Food, wine tasting, live music, chef demos, comedy shows, fresh produce, the usual assortment of farmers market/county fair vendors, and did I mention food??!?! You'll have fun, just go. read more

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Not Kid friendly or family forward. Okay, that's out of the way. The 2023 version was a waste for my family. Compared to last year's event which was way better for the whole family. It had rides and a huge slide. Story book readings and Pete the Cat. The kids "zone " was on pavement with little to do for the littles... some coloring. Two of the vendors booths had adult themed hats and clothing and other items for sale in clear view of everyone's kids. If mother f--- and f--- , sh-- are kid friendly, there not. Why would some big named sponsors back this trash? Getting into this festival was intense. First the list of what isn't allowed, PRO sports, international air travel and concerts are easier to get into. The hyper security at the entry was overkill. Questions and a full body wand scan. A bit silly. They try to make this about the artichokes but it's about the money really... isn't it. From the parking, gate fees and food it's for those with disposable incomes. Please take this festival back to Castroville. Last words... music was fine. read more

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The Artichoke Festival 2023 didn't seem as crowded as in previous years. Perhaps it was due to inflation. Admission for adults was $20 and $15 for seniors and military. Their parking lot cost $15 and had plenty of space available. They had security present to check purses/bags and run a metal detector wand over you. There were the classic artichoke burritos and plenty of other food vendors. I didn't see artichoke cupcakes or Sparky's root beer floats. I didn't walk into the kid zone, and there didn't seem to be much happening inside from what I could see. One of the vendors featured note cards, coffee cups and some other merchandise that featured adult language. Walking past that booth definitely would develop your children's language skills, though not in a way that you might want. To me, it seemed like there was some energy missing this year compared to previous ones. read more

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It was a disappointing day at the artichoke festival. We were looking forward to this event with much anticipation, as most people I'm sure. It's been two years since this festival, and I have to say, if perhaps covid had never happened, and perhaps inflation, I think this festival would have kept on thriving. For one, it was small. Things were moved around and a lot of building weren't open like in years past which I'm referencing the years at the fairgrounds. The artichoke cupcakes were smaller and just as expensive, the burritos were tiny, and lacked the fullness it needed to satiate your hunger. There was no fresh lemonade, although it was nice to see an fruit alfresco drink booth. The vendors though. Where did they go? And I saw a handful of the same vendors at the mushroom Mardi Gras festival a few weeks back, which also changed and wasn't quite as exciting. Wine tasting was now in the building where the farmers market used to be, and the flow was just wasn't the same. Walking around, felt a little eery, and a little sad, and I was just trying to reminisce of the glory of this festival long ago. I'm surprised how many people also weren't there. Yeah it was a little early but it seemed like no one was really around. With the $15 per head plus the gas I'm sure people changed their minds. I'm wishing we did. Also no purses, or diaper bags. They were selling clear ones for $10. I get the added security but come on. This isn't pebble beach, we're not at the AT&T Pro Am. I was also surprised that one lady was being harassed at security for bringing cold breast milk. It needs to stay cold, she needs it contained with an ice pack. Security was extremely rude and lacked compassion for families with babies and small children. I'm hoping this festival bounces back. I'm not sure though, seems like there is a down turn starting. Recession looming, etc. Well it was fun while it lasted. I'll always remember the great times I had at the artichoke festival. read more

We happened to be in Monterey for the weekend and found out the The Castroville Artichoke Festival was going on. With artichoke being one of my favorite vegetables I was excited to check out the event. Unfortunately I guess I had much higher expectations for being in the "Artichoke Capital of the World" and $10 adult admission. Since this is a small town festival its tiny compared to the huge Gilroy Garlic Festival. It seemed there were more other food venders than artichoke venders. Sticking to the theme my husband and I shared an artichoke burrito ($8), which was actually pretty good despite the lack of meat, deep friend artichoke hearts ($8) and half of a small grilled artichoke. Seriously, for those prices I could have bought twice as much artichoke ($6) and made those same things at home! We tried the artichoke cupcake. If you are wondering what it taste like, think zucchini bread but with artichoke. Not bad but nothing special either. I did have a good time and got some nice artichokes and ideas for cooking but this event should be bigger. Pros: Free parking, farmers market type area, creative artichoke designs Cons: $10 admission, small festival, have to pay at all the venders read more

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Just a rip off. Parking is $20.00. No shuttle to the entrance. $30.00 entrance charge. So 50 bucks and just overpriced everything. Bought 1 T-shirt, $25.00. The material is so thin it's just like the ones you see on the street vendos. 3 for 10 bucks. Any not to much wind. read more

A dream come true. I've been an avid artichoke enthusiast since I was a young lass. Every year I tell myself that I will be attending my first artichoke festival and this year I finally made the trek from San Diego to Castroville. The festival itself was actually quite small, but it seems as though many people attended. My favorite part was the field tours and getting to cut and keep your very own artichokes! The food vendors were awesome, I tried new things like artichoke cupcakes and artichoke taquitos, as well as classic favorites like grilled artichokes and fried artichoke hearts. I really wish and hope that one day someone makes artichoke ice cream! Hopefully I can make it a tradition and visit every year! read more

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I was looking forward to the Artichoke Festival for the past few weeks now but when I arrived, I was sadly disappointed. My expectations were low and still they couldn't meet them. The entire experience was indeed quite lackluster and pedestrian. For a festival that was suppose to make artichoke the star, it felt more like a side dish. It almost seemed like the food vendors were simply there to take advantage of the opportunity to sell their overpriced food mascaraing them as artichoke dishes. I am sorry but serving enchiladas with a side of artichokes does not make it an artichoke enchilada. That's like putting ice with a side cream and saying you have ice cream =_=. Needless to say, the enchiladas sucked! I also tried an artichoke cupcake ($3) which reminded me of zucchini bread with icing on top. The icing was too sweet and overpowered the delicate artichoke flavor. Next, I ordered a delicious, albeit messy, grilled artichoke ($3). Great flavor and loved the balsamic glaze on top along with a dollop of ranch in the center. Ironically, my favorite dish at the festival was the tamales from the church. They were super moist and had relatively decent flavors. While not the best I have ever did, it definitely shined brighter than anything else there. As for my friends, they tried the fried artichokes ($8), chicken on a stick ($7), funnel cake w/ strawberries &whipped cream ($7), trip tip sandwich ($7), and banana and strawberry smooth ($5). We came to a general consensus that the food was just not worth coming for. Oh and $10 admission few is just plain ridiculous!!! Overall Thoughts First and last time for me read more

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$10 admission for adults, $5 for kids, and free for kids under 3 yrs. Upon arriving in Castroville, I felt like I was in an old western movie. The town was severely neglected and in dyer need of some upgrades. This was by far the most whack festival that I have ever been to. The festival was in the middle of a residential area that had been blocked off by gates just for the festival. When we first walked in there were about ten show cars, yet only 4 were of 'show' quality. One car there was dented, not painted, and definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. GHETTO! Then as we walked in there were about eight food tents, consisting of corn, fried artichoke hearts, chinese food, artichoke soup, kettle corn, tacos (shrimp/fish), artichoke cupcakes, and possibly one more that I might have forgotten?? And that was all she wrote. None of their food was worth coming back for; it wasn't bad, but it was definitely over priced.! We decided to give it a chance, so we walked around the whole festival which only took a few minutes. We passed about ten different tents that were selling t-shirts, jewelry, and some other very low end merchandise, and crafts. There was also a children area with a slide, a couple of games, a couple of rides, and one stand where you could buy a caramel apple, cotton candy, or nachos. They did have one stage for a band that just so happened to be the same band my sister used to sing for. I guess they are the only band in town lol. They played and sang the same songs that they have been playing for the past 5 years. You guys have to get some new material, SERIOUSLY! I knew it was them the minute I heard them play their first song. This was a complete waste of time and money!! I DO NOT recommend that anyone go here next year, unless you are bored, and have nothing else better to do, but to waste money. read more

Artichoke Festival - Festivals Near Me - Monterey, California

The Castroville Artichoke Festival is a fun festival that I have attended for the last two years now. It's a small town festival, so don't expect something that's huge like the Gilroy Garlic Festival or the Stockton Asparagus Festival. We spent about 2.5 hours at the festival this year and had a really good time. There's free parking that's well organized and easy to find, free shuttle service to and from the free parking area, and admission to the festival is $10.00 for adults. This year, I tried the following items: artichoke soup, deep fried artichokes, a fish taco with artichokes, chocolate covered artichoke with bacon, a mini artichoke cupcake, artichoke lumpia, artichoke pasta, sweet and savory artichoke cheesecakes, chips with artichoke guacamole and artichoke salsa, an artichoke jalapeno popper with bacon, and an artichoke tamale. I thought the food options were plentiful with a good number of artichoke themed options. My favorites were the soup, fried artichokes, fish taco, and the guacamole and salsa. The festival also features vendors selling various items and food products, wine and beer tasting, agro art, artichoke field tours, carnival type rides and games, a stage with live music, and an area with fresh produce for sale. Last year, we watched an artichoke eating contest which was pretty entertaining. The festival gets a good amount of foot traffic but it doesn't feel overly crowded. People were friendly and there were lots of families walking around. I look forward to supporting this festival again in the future! read more

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Definitely not with the $15 cover Good luck finding the free parking "Farmers Market" is not a Farmers Market ... most is not even local produce Food selection was ok Cooking demos were decent Music was sporadic but good seating available. Benches and bleachers. Vendors were ok. Saw new stuff, which is always nice - but also lots of the same ol stuff Won't be back. read more

Who would ever think they would have a festival celebrating my favorite dish. But they did. And a grand event it is. I even got to perform my show on stage there and what a huge turnout. Plenty of great artichoke dishes to choose from at all the booths. And lots of arts and crafts too. A superb event you wont want to miss. read more

Its not too far of a drive from Morgan Hill. We get to the designated parking and find that we can take a shuttle. We hop on the bus and head towards the center of a residential neighborhood. We get off the bus and pay $8 to get into what should be a local street fair or flea market. We didn't try any of the food. Don't ask me why. I probably will skip this next time unless someone else wants to fund the day. read more

If I was going to be executed by lethal injection, my last meal would be a steamed artichoke with drawn butter. So I was pretty effin excited that there was an artichoke town with a festival a mere 6 hours away. As the other reviewers said, it was basically a swap meet and car show with fried dough and sausage sandwiches. Oh, and some weird little artichoke booths: fried, steamed, cupcake, taco, burrito. For a town that grows millions of artichokes, you'd think someone there would know how to cook them. I mean, even Applebee's has an artichoke and spinach dip. We were standing near one of the cooking demo's, a very undercooked risotto (mmm. crunchy.) where a bunch of chefs were lamenting their upcoming demo's and how none of them really knew what they were doing. Later, my boyfriend got a little tipsy and started heckling a chef doing a demo. At one point she said, "Oh, whoops! Hopefully when you make this at home it turns out better." Seems like the town of Castroville is really missing an opportunity. With the popularity of the Food Network and its dozens of shows, no one could get on the horn and organize some fancy guest chefs? How about Food and Wine Magazine? No? Rather have a bouncy house and a t-shirt with an unnaturally life-like child eating an artichoke on it? Not that we didn't have a good time. But we are newly in love and could have fun waiting in line at the post office. read more

I've been to a few food themed festivals in my life, so I was excited that we were lucky to be in the area for this one since I love me some artichokes, and curious to see all of the imaginative ways to eat and see artichokes. But when you think about it, how many ways can you REALLY eat one since they have to be cooked for quite some time? Admission was $10 for adults, which after the fact was not worth it to me. You are paying for pretty much everything to do in there (food, games and rides for the kids, beer and wine tasting for the big kids)and this festival is small. Surprisingly, the food you can buy was not as vast as I was dreaming of like Forrest Gump's best good friend in the world was rambling on like shrimp. There was artchoke soup (passed on it), fried artichoke pieces (very good, but expensive for about a dozen pieces for $8), grilled or steamed artichoke (expensive for HALF OF A SMALL ONE AT $6), artichoke cupcake (I think it was $5) which I was given a small cut of from the nice gentleman I sat next to at a table (cream cheese frosting, vanilla cake and small chunks of the green heart), and the best value which was the burrito. It was big, but after waiting 10 minutes for them to get more ground beef, there was maybe a tablespoon of it in there with the loads of rice, sour cream, beans and small chunks of heart. But it was cool to see the displays of art which was different things using the artichoke leaves, among them a whale, bird, and yes, even a candy crush board. You can also buy local produce, artichoke hummus, and we sampled a just finished cooking demo. I was surprised to see the number of local food vendors that had a variety to choose from. But you are weird if you come to the artichoke festival and buy sushi. We did get a nice cup of fresh local root beer that was $3.50 which was worth it ($2.00 for a refill)since the main booth that was selling bottled soda was $3. If you are in Monterey for the weekend like we were, give it a buzz, but I would not go out of my way to come. We got lucky with free street parking, but surrounding businesses were making a killing charging $10 to $25 to park in their lots, which was a fleecing since I can't imgaine being there longer than the 2 hours we were there unless you meander around with the kids or stay to drink with your group. read more

What a total waste of time and money. This was the equivalent of every local street Art & Wine festival you have ever been to. Pop up tents with the same vendors selling their goods, beer, wine. and food booths, music, and activities for kids. The main difference being..... local street Art & Wine festivals "Are Free!" This cost $10-25 in parking and ah additional $12 per person to enter the fairgrounds. What do you get: Artichokes. That's about it. Any type of artichoke you can make at home, you can pay 10X as much to eat here. Want to see some poorly artistic creations people can design out of artichokes? Well, you're in luck. You can see those here too. read more

My first trip to the festival and probably my last. I was highly disappointed. We parked in the neighborhood and walked over to the festival. $10 admission. I didn't mind paying but after getting into the festival, I totally regretted it! There was a tiny car show that was about a block long. Lots of arts and crafts type of booths like you would see at a farmers market. A cool Home Depot booth where kids could build mini tables. There were about 4 measly rides. The stages were nothing to be impressed about. The wine tasting/micro brew tasting was in a small cramped room. We wanted to try the micro brew tasting but there was only one type to try--longboards. Whoop-dee-doo. They also have field tours to the artichoke fields however, there's a fee for that. It isn't included in your admission. The only thing I really liked from the festival was the agro-art! Very cool. I'm thinking of entering next year since it's free with admission and prizes go up to $500! And of course, the $8 artichoke burrito. I wanted to try the artichoke cupcake but they ran out 3 hours into the festival (uh, you would think they would have enough to last throughout the festival!) We walked through the entire festival 2.5 times in 1 hour (and trust me, we were taking our sweet time.) Definitely too small and not worth the hype. Save your money, buy your fried artichokes and cheap beer at the Giant Artichoke instead. read more

Our first time at this small town festival and I'm glad we came. The entrance, $10 bucks, a bit stiff but remember folks, that fee is helping support this small town. We had fun checking out the various artichoke offerings. I noshed on the hubs boat of beer battered, deep fried artichoke hearts-no digging for thistles and ridding the area of chokes-they were already dechoked! I opted for the more satisfying and less calorie laden burrito, also filled with the savory hearts I love. We enjoyed our homemade root beer as we strolled among all the locals' prized classic cars. Owners were close at hand to tell and show us all the details of their sweet rides. We even met one of the festival organizers; a retired transplant from Lodi, CA, our neck of the woods! Music played non-stop on the stage as we made our way to the farmers market where you could purchase just one fresh artichoke or a whole crate of artichokes; wish I bought more. When I compared the wimpier older ones at our local markets, it made me a bit sad I hadn't. Don't forget to stop by the "artichoke art". How fun, creative and colorful. I've posted a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment. The Castroville Artichoke Festival reminds me of a time when our own Asparagus Festival first came into being; small, low key, relaxing and full of local flair! I understand it had to grow in order to support our local nonprofits with the hundreds or thousands of $$$'s taken in each year but I do miss the small town feel it used to have. I guess we'll have to make our annual trek to Santa Cruz during the Artichoke Fest's run from now on so I can get my small town fest fixl! read more

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The artichoke festival was the greatest thing EVER! Today I ate: - artichoke ceasar salad - deep fried artichoke - steamed artichoke - cream of artichoke soup - artichoke burrito - crab dip in an artichoke crown - artichoke fish taco - artichoke tamale - artichoke and sausage pasta sautee Amazing! Delicious! Also, we learned how to prepare and cook artichokes at the cooking demonstration, did some wine tasting, heard the Marshall Tucker Band and a children's choir from Uganda, perused the art made out of artichokes, and watched the artichoke eating contest! And did I mention getting our picture taken with the guy in the giant artichoke suit? The artichoke festival was everything I hoped for and more. read more

$15 parking and then $10 for entry to a lackluster, overpriced and for the most part forgettable fair. The artichoke dishes were horrible and gave a bad name to an awesome vegetable. The tiny dried up grilled artichoke, the flavorless sautéed artichoke and the greasy fried artichoke. Nasty. If the festival was free, I would bump up to 3 stars. Been there done it and won't be back... Update: one hour later...big time diarrhea. Not sure which dish, but something gave us the Sh**s. read more

I keep thinking I like festivals. And fairs. I don't. It's too far to drive for us to return, but maybe not for you. We stayed maybe an hour or two? FOOD: The fried artichokes were meh, though everyone else was mostly repulsed by them in my party. I certainly thought they beat the 4 for $10 partially frozen artichokes stuffed with goat cheese and handled by sketchy means dish I had at the Ren Fair in Casa de Fruta. Michael L. is right; the 'chokes were served alongside Carl's Jr house dressing. Didn't bother me. The grilled artichoke looked decent, but was [obvs] overpriced. The meat on a stick looked divine, as did the corn on the cob --which I don't love ordinarily, but refrained from both. YUM HIGHLIGHT: We had the artichoke cupcake which was fairly priced, delightful and chilled cream cheese frosting, and tasted like zucchini bread, really. They also cut it into fours for me to share with my friends. BOOTHS: If you've been to the San Jose flea market, the booths were not dissimilar to that experience. Booths were o-kay, mostly jewelry, tie-die. Really liked the Pickle Man [I would] and bought his butterscotch schnapps pears, spicy asparagus, and pickled green beans. I did, of course, find something to buy regardless. WINE: We did the wine tasting and did not much like anything. There was one place with Pomegranate and Raspberry Wine; the raspberry was very good and I decided to spend my last of four tickets on a second taste instead of swill from Radog, Grizzly, the other place, or the decent but widely available Barefoot [save the cute Toe-Minator I met at the last Barefoot fair booth]. $7 four tastes, commemorative glass. $1 per extra taste. PRICE: $8 for adults, $4 for children. ACTIVITIES: There were lots of hot rods today. In the back there was agro-art, which was artichoke art [cute, fun], an artichoke eating contest [congrats to this year's three time champion], and a food demo [conveniently selling the recipe book she cooks from on site]. It was none too chilly nor cold, we parked nearby for free. MUSIC: The gal singing jazz at the front was really good and singing for a crowd of 10. The mariachi band in back had that many people in their band alone, and was singing for 20x that amount of people. read more

We had some time to kill on the way back from an awesome night and day in Monterey so we decided to check out the artichoke festival. Honestly now that I've done this festival I probably won't have to ever go again in my life time. At any particular moment I felt like I could be at a flea market, an art/wine festival, or a county fair. There wasn't anything very special about the atmosphere or the food. The $8 deep fried artichokes were served with ranch dressing from Burger King. It wasn't totally horrible but it was just too greasy. Glad my statin drugs will take care of that. The highlight of this was the purchase of a case of 18 jumbo artichokes for $22. read more

The fried artichoke was way too salty because they add salt after frying. It ruined the taste by adding the salt. They ran out of certain food which pissed us off. That is why I gave one star. read more

Sometimes I wonder what people expect from vegetable festivals. These are industry-focused events presented either by a large grower of whatever the vegetable is or by a co-op or consortium of growers. These are festivals, not the state fair or the county fair! The Artichoke Festival is no exception. It wasn't the World's Fair but it never pretended to be, and we didn't drive to Monterrey expecting it to be. The general public is invited to spend ten dollars per person admission and enjoy a variety of foods using artichokes (burritos, soups, deep fried, sautéed with sausages, made into ice cream, and so on). Local boys and girls make sculptures using artichoke pedals (a whale, a lobster, etc.) to earn award ribbons. Most of the critical reviewers may have missed the point of the festival and thereby may not have understood how best to enjoy this kind of festival. In the Monterrey Bay area, gourmet dining is found at Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row - not at the Artichoke Festival. The festival offers great presentations by skilled speakers, such as Pat Hopper. The presenters describe the anatomy of these tasty thistles, how they are grown, what to look for when buying them in the store, how to prepare them, how to use them in a variety of dishes. I suspect that most of the negative reviewers also missed out on the 90-minute Field Tour, where fair goers are bused to several artichoke fields (in nearby Castroville), shown how the plants are grown, how the artichokes are harvested, the way the plants are cut back and mulched at the end of the harvest cycle, and how the packing plants operate. We enjoyed the tour very much. After visiting the packing plant, we were taken to a field where we could harvest an artichoke ourselves using the special harvesting knife. Those who were interested could try their hand at cutting the artichokes and flipping them into the harvesting backpack (canasta) that the artichoke workers use. It's harder than is looks. A little common sense needs to be employed when evaluating such things as the Bacon Festival, the Garlic Festival, and the Date Festival. If these are stand-alone festivals and not part of a county fair, they will be small, friendly, and local. Also, these festivals feature a farmer's market section where visitors can purchase local fruits and vegetables at bargain prices. So, if you are looking for a fantastic world-class exposition, go to the 2015 Milan Expo or its equivalent. Those who head out to the Artichoke Festival envisioning the Chicago World's Fair will be disappointed, I'm afraid. But those who have a realistic perspective as to what a fruit or vegetable festival is about will enjoy this one. Next year, we will drive to Monterrey Bay again to enjoy the 2016 Artichoke Festival. read more

This was a nice way to spend the day. This is a small fair, but it was a nice little loop. They had all the usual suspects for a fair, such as cotton candy, fried twinkies and root beer floats. They also had a ton of kettle corn and beer & wine. It was $10 to get in, but only $5 if you had a military ID! Must Dos: - Artichoke nachos - they were fabulous and super bad for you with the plastic Rico's cheese from a can and greasy beef. Delicious! - Artichoke Cupcakes - These were great! They had a HUGE dollop of cream cheese frosting on top and are reminiscent of carrot cake. - Artichoke burritos - There were enormous and large enough to split. - Farmer's Market - This was mostly artichokes, of course, but they had some neat food displays to check out. - Free Parking - Follow the signs for the fair shuttle and take it! The parking is free and you can hop the bus for a 2 min. commute. It is worth the easy in and out, free parking and lack of parking headaches, due to traffic. - Car Show - Check out the cars - there were a few super cool 39 Chevy's and a few sweet muscle cars. There were also a lot of duds, though, so take it with a grain of salt. - Don't think too hard - Guys - this is a street festival, for charity, to celebrate artichokes. Don't go expecting the Pebble Beach food & Wine Fest, and you will be happy. If you want a half day of some rides, fair food, farmer's market and a artichoke eating contest, you will be pleased. If not, you will be disappointed and stay home. Things That Went Well: - They had lots of "clean" potties and hand washing stations. I put the "clean" in parentheses because they were still port-a-potties, but they were very clean and maintained. Good job and thanks! - Parking shuttle - This was free and you could take a school bus to the front door. Kind of dusty, but you are not dressing up to come to this! - Kiddie Rides - There were a bunch of rides for the kids, so this was good. It was separated into a bouncy section (i.e. no shoes) and a "ride section" (i.e. shoes required). Split it into two mini-adventures and you only have to manage shoes and socks once. What Could Improve: - Beverages! It was next to impossible to find water and none of the vendors had it. If you see a beverage vendor and anticipate EVER needing water, then BUY it! - The wine/beer/tasting was a bit pricey! It was $10 for wine tasting and that only included two ~4 oz. tastings. Additional tastings were $2/each. Would I go again? I would definitely take out-of-town visitors, but once is good enough for me. read more

My very first time at the Artichoke Festival and I wasn't really sure what to expect. First of all, it took about an hour and 45 minutes to get there, but we left early so were there around 10:45am. We managed to find relatively nearby street parking so we didn't have to park in the (free) designated parking area and take the shuttle. It costs $8 to get in for adults, but you do get in and out privileges because you wear a wristband. There were a lot of hot rods there for the car show. Those were kind of fun to look at. We tried the fried artichokes, which were actually pretty good and filling, that came with Carl's Jr ranch dressing. That was pretty interesting. And we tried the artichoke burrito, which I actually really liked. I was a little scared of the artichoke cupcakes, so didn't try that. Although I do like zucchini bread, so maybe I would've liked it after all. The booths are what you expect at any other fair or festival. I did manage to buy a sun hat for $5 since I had just realized that morning that I lost mine, so that was a great deal. I'm not sure I'd go back, but it was an interesting experience to try once. What is really cool is the contest they have where they make things out of artichokes and other food. I think like 25% of it has to be made out of artichokes or something. Anyway, this one group was making Totoros out of artichokes! That's super cool. I'm giving the festival an extra star just for that. read more

Very disappointing and highly over rated, just a glorified swap meet. Seven stands selling cooked artichokes is not a festival it's a ripoff. Fortunately it wasn't far from Monterey. We enjoyed the Vintage cars on display, other than that it wasn't worth the trip. read more

My friends and I decided to drive the six hour trek all the way from Orange County to Castroville to experience the artichoke festival. We saw the sign the year before while driving to San Francisco and thought it would be a fun road trip, and can I just say what a rip off!!! It was in the middle of a neighborhood peoples homes were inside of this festival!!! If we didn't already pay for our hotel rooms then we would have driven back home. There were about 10 different artichoke vendors selling things like deep fried artichoke's which came with a Carl's Jr. house dressing on the side, weird, but I digress. There were artichoke burritos, pasta, bacon wrapped, cupcakes (which were all sold out by 3pm) sauteed, grilled and Round Table pizza. Everything else was your typical fair food. There were a bunch of vendors selling everything you would see at your local swap meet. It was $10 to get in and thay was the most expensive thing we paid for. After about two hours we left unable to believe that we had just driven all the way up there for nothing. read more

I had a fun day at the Artichoke Festival. It is definitely more like a county fair than a fancy Bay Area foodie event, so it should be appreciated for what it is. I ate the deep fried artichoke and an artichoke quesadilla (with beer). We saw an artichoke eating competition, handicrafts make out of artichokes (i.e. an otter and a mermaid), teen hip hop dancing show, and a lot of hot rods. Plus after surrendering my contact information to the artichoke marketing people, I got 4 free artichokes to take home! read more

If you love artichokes, this is a great little festival. Me, I could do without them, so going once was plenty for me.

FINALLY, The Castroville Artichoke Festival, which was once a small town event, has grown andmwill be held this year, 2014, at The Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. Monterey is just 12 miles from Castroville and an easy drive on California highways 156 and 1. Moving the Festival will mean MORE parking and better facilities for families and ALL attendees. Improved food and craft vendors and the beautiful setting of the fairgrounds will benefit The Castroville Festival for many years to come. I hope everyone will mark the calendars for this NEW venue. Music, food and FUN for all. Looking forward to the NEW location and expanded attractions. read more

What a JOKE ! First, everyone was parking all along the neighborhood residential streets because the festival bordered behind main street stores, the fire station and the residential homes. Residence were charging $7 to park in their yards. \ Now let's talk about the fesitival. What a disappointment. My wife and I planned a vacation and we couldn't believe our luck that there is an actual Ariichoke Fesitival. The festival had very little to do with artichokes. We were looking so forward to new recipes for one of our favorite vegetables. When we paid our $10 to get in we were looking high and low for an Artichoke. Where are the Artichokes???? There were eye glass vendors, jewelry vendors, stuffed animals but no artichokes. Finally we found the artichokes and the selections were minimal. Burrito Artichoke (very little artichoke). Fried Artichoke with a side of ranch dresing (What???) A side of ranch dressing. I never heard of such a thing. We also tried the grilled artichoke (not good). It was cold like it had not been on the grill four hours and in the middle was some mayo dressing. My wife and I make delicious grilled artichokes with garlic and olive oil grilled on our BBQ mmm good. This festival could really be something if in fact it was really about the Artichokes. We looked at the information on the web site and it looked like an almost elegant event. We pictured tables for wine tasting and many booths with you guest it an artichoke. I would not recommend this festival to anyone..... BIG disappointment...so sad.. If I could give no stars that is what I would do. read more

It's the smallest fair I've ever seen. Maybe a couple city blocks. Perhaps 8 booths of good-but-not-extraordinary artichoke meal choices. If it was $5 a person, it might be worthwhile, but $10 for the privilege of seeing a small flea market and buying unexceptional food seems unreasonable. The exhibition hall contained one high-school caliber artichoke art exhibit, one cooking demo station, and a small farmers market station. read more

I wish I had read the reviews before I drove 2 hours to get there, spend $10.00 for parking, $10.00 to get in the festival and within 10 minutes had seen everything. For lunch decided I wanted Calamari, it's 12:30 pm the vendor is already out of clams and fries, after waiting 10 minutes they tell me it will be another 5 minutes before they get fries, so I decide to wait, they call my name and no fries, it's oil saturated calamari and fish which I never ordered, it wasn't fried, it was limp in a puddle of oil. So later decide to have strawberry shortcake, the cake is completely dried out. The only thing worthy of the time, gas and money spent was the music, they did have great bands, so I spend the next 6 hours listening to the bands. They didn't offer enough seating for the cooking demos, otherwise I might have watched a couple demos. Won't bother going again, I'll find a farmer's market to buy artichokes, and find the bands that played somewhere else to watch. read more

More like BummerFest. I got sucked in by the beautiful posters and thought there'd be multiple artichoke food booths, artichoke products, competing growers, etc. etc. Instead, we found a really homely fenced in pen, sort of like a carnie stockyard, where all the food booths were located next to a stage where earsplitting hair-n-metal bands were strutting their incompetent stuff. The fried artichokes with aioli at the lone booth offering them were sebaceous culinary atrocities. The cream of artichoke soup was bland and cast a pall over the concept. The rest of the food on offer could have been had at any vacant lot carnival in any town in America. Greasy fried dough, suspicious sausage-n-peppers, tanker truck lemonade. Ack. I was soooo disappointed. The only cool part was the sizeable lineup of local hot rods and lowriders, and the ability to buy entire crates of fresh artichokes from the valley's bigget grower. The tee shirts and posters change every year and are the only unique aspect of the festival itself. My advice: Buy a poster online, skip the festival, pick up some chokes at a local grower, and go straight on down to Monterey. read more

The festival itself was pretty cool. The food was good. There was a good selection of artichokes and other fresh vegetables available for purchase. The artichoke bread was amazing! read more

My wife and I went to the Castroville, Ca Artichoke festival today. We stayed the night in Salinas as we are from Atwater, Ca, then took the short hop to Castroville. We love artichokes and where looking forward to seeing what they had to offer. We watched the parade, which was cool with dancing horses and mariachi, then walked to the festival. I was surprised and disappointed to find they had a $10 admission. This is a festival, maybe i would have been happy to pay 2 or 3 dollars max if any fee at all, but at last we paid and went in. I was disappointed to say the least. It was basically a reason to sell fair food without the fair. There where some nice cars being shown and a band but they where not worth the fee. I don't think we would visit again. This was a quick low budget trip so it sufficed as a night out of town, but i think we could have went to the tide pools by Monterey and had a better time. read more