Farmers’ market, plants and barbecue, oh my. Bakersfield College’s Garden Fest will be offering all of that and more April 19. The event is centered around BC’s Horticulture Department, but it will also be incorporating the Agriculture Department, Culinary Arts department, Ceramics Department and various other clubs on campus.
According to horticulture technician Sally Sterns, the expected turnout this year is about 4,000 people. “People who attend will not only see what BC [agriculture] has to offer but what all of BC has to offer,” said Sterns. “The design of Garden Fest was to, number one, bring attention to the horticulture program, and now it’s designed to bring attention to all of the Ag programs and all of the other programs at Bakersfield College,” said agriculture professor Lindsay Ono.
Twelve seminars pertaining to horticulture will be offered for free at the event. Interactive seminars will be offered but require a small fee. The interactive seminars include building a terrarium and floral design. All the materials will be supplied, and people can take home what they make.
There will be a barbecue demonstration put on, and the barbecue used will later be raffled off. Attendees can also buy breakfast and lunch while at Garden Fest. There will be Renegade Ranch pistachios for sale according to Ono.
Students will be selling trees, flower shrubs, home and office plants, and vegetables that they have cultivated themselves.
“During Garden Fest, the whole green house will be taken over by Golden Empire Orchid Club,” said Sterns. One of the greenhouses will be filled with orchids for people to buy.
Two new features this year will be citrus trees for sale and vegetables grown hydroponically. The Green Thumb Garden Club, the Camellia Society and the Rose Society are just a few of the organizations that will be represented at Garden Fest this year.
There will petting zoos with animals brought in by the Animal Science and Vet Tech departments of Bakersfield College. The California Living Museum will also have a booth set up. Battlefield Live will have a laser tag area set up during the day. Sterns hopes that organizations on campus will set up laser tag teams. For more information call Sterns at 395-4446.
There will be a ceramics sale put on by Bakersfield College ceramics students. There will also be a farmers’ market set up by Murray Family Farms and Fiddyment Farms.
This will be the third year that Garden Fest has been held. The first year a pond was installed, and the second year a little fountain was installed. This year, they plan on installing a standing fountain.
“Now we’re at over 75 booths and still growing before the deadline,” said Ono.
There is no admission cost and the event takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the BC Horticulture Lab, which is located on campus by the Fine Arts building.