Ripon Almond Blossom Festival is back. Here’s what’s new — and how to save money on tickets
.JPG "Almond trees blooming near Mistlin Sports Park before the 2022 Ripon Almond Blossom Festival.")
You know it’s almond blossom season in Ripon when the air gets a certain scent— one that you can’t really put in words.
“There is a smell to the season,” said Kelly Donohue with the Ripon Chamber of Commerce. “It was Wednesday or Thursday last week when I was like, ‘It’s here.’ ”
With that season comes the annual Almond Blossom Festival. This is the 62nd year residents and visitors have celebrated the town’s largest tradition, now held at Mistlin Sports Park.
This year’s Almond Blossom Festival features four days of fun, from a baking competition and a fun run to food trucks and carnival rides.
What’s the history of Ripon’s Almond Blossom Festival?
The Ripon Chamber of Commerce started the festival as Simpson Lee Days in 1962 as a way to welcome the paper-producing giant to town.
The event was originally held in the fall during almond harvesting season.
“It turns out that when you are harvesting almonds, it’s really dusty and not cute outside,” Donohue said. “They decided to change it to the Almond Blossom Festival, which is arguably the much more beautiful time.”
The festival was originally held at the Ripon Community Center, which is considerably smaller in size than the 100-acre sports park.
As the town grew and the festival drew people from other areas, the festivities were moved to the park around 15 years ago, Donohue said.
When is this year’s Almond Blossom Festival?
The 2024 Almond Blossom Festival will be held at Mistlin Sports Park, 1201 West River Road in Ripon, from Thursday through Sunday.
The festival kicks off with a bake-off at the community center, 334 Fourth St. in Ripon, from 7 to 10 a.m. Thursday. A spaghetti dinner at the community center will be held from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
The carnival opens with $2 rides at 5 p.m. Thursday and closes at 10 p.m.
“A lot of locals like that night,” Donohue said.
The Miss Almond Blossom coronation will take place at 7 p.m. that night at the Ripon Community Center.
New event added to Almond Blossom weekend lineup
The Ripon Chamber of Commerce has added an arm wrestling competition to the lineup of events this year.
“I think Almond Blossom has seen a lot of different phases over the years,” Donohue said, naming a yo-yo competition and tractor pulls as some of the unique festival events that have taken place in years past. “An arm wrestling group came to me and they said, ‘We think we can be your next thing.’ ”
The competition will take place Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park and will be hosted by Sac County Arms. Anyone can enter, and participants 17 and under must have a guardian present to sign a waiver.
There will be more than 100 vendors and 25 food trucks at the festival.
“The food trucks will inherently bring people, but then you stay for all the cool, fun things you see along the way,” Donohue said.
What else is going on during the festival?
Here are the other festival events:
Friday
- Craft and bake sale: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ripon Senior Center
- Festival vendor booths: 2 to 8 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park
- Carnival: 4 to 10 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park
- Live music (teen night): 4 to 8 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park Community Stage
Saturday
- Pancake breakfast: 6 to 10 a.m. at Ripon Grange Hall
- American Legion Ladies Auxiliary 190 10th annual burrito breakfast: 7 a.m. to noon at American Legion Hall
- Fun Run: 8:30 a.m. (1 mile), 9 a.m. (8k) at Mavis Stouffer Park
- Craft and bake sale: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ripon Senior Center
- Bake sale: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church
- Festival vendor booths: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park
- Diaper Derby: 10 a.m. at Ripon High School North Gym
Sloppy Joe/hot dog lunch: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Immanuel CRC
- Carnival: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park
- Live music: Noon to 8 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park Community Stage
- Parade: 1 p.m. in downtown Ripon (starting at Stockton Avenue)
- Quarterback Club brats and drinks: 1 to 7 p.m. at Ripon Community Center
- Swiss Club dance (21+): 7 p.m. at Ripon Swiss Club
Sunday
- Festival vendor booths: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park
- Carnival: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park
- Live music: Noon to 5 p.m. at Mistlin Sports Park Community Stage
How to buy tickets to Ripon Almond Blossom Festival
Entry to the Almond Blossom Festival is free. Parking is $5, and the proceeds go to the nonprofit organizations who volunteer to help facilitate the parking.
Pre-sale tickets are available now through Wednesday online or at Ripon Chamber of Commerce.
For $35, you can get a voucher that you can redeem at the carnival for a one-day, unlimited ride wristband. There is an additional service fee when you purchase the vouchers online.
These wristbands are $45 when you purchase them at the festival.
“(The festival) is a celebration of our community and agriculture and the farmers and the almonds that support this town,” Donohue said.
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