The festival moved to a new location in 2024. The whole thing felt like a money grab. Pay to park, pay to enter (per person), and pay hefty prices once you enter. I'm sure each booth had to pay a fee just to setup. There was no additional value for paying an entrance fee except for the opportunity to buy stuff. I was hoping there would be a craft for kids or something interesting to participate in. I recommend passing on this festival in the future, it was a waste of time and money for me. Instead, find a local fruit stand and buy oranges locally. For a mandarin milkshake, I'd go to a local diner in the area. read more

So this is a pretty small event to be considered a festival but hey it was fun. Tickets were $10 pp and allowed you to peruse the displays and vendors. We parked next door in a church parking lot accepting donations fir parking so that made it easy to lug our 10lb bags of mandarins lol. My favorite display was a guy carving wood sculptures with a chain saw. Also had a Reeses's peanut butter mocha and cobbler which were yummy. Unfortunately the mandarins were more tart than sweet so ideally this should have been delayed to prolong the growing season. Overall this was still a nice little event and i would come back next year. read more

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It didn't live up to the hype. A lot of vendors at hearty prices, and the cost to enter wasn't cheap. On top of that, the mandarins were not as good as I thought they might be. Most were very tangy to sour, and we did not purchase any as a result. I don't know if I would go back. Now having said that, it is a legit festival. Lots of things going on, lots of people, activities and fun to be had. I just was not feeling it I suppose and it was not in my mind worth the cost of entry. read more

Mandarin Festival - First time for everything! - Festivals Near Me - Auburn, California

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Fun little festival full of mandarin goodies!! I came early to participate in their 2nd annual fun run. The cost We finished the race at least an hour prioof the fun run includes a complimentary ticket to the festival. The bad part was that we finished the race at least an hour prior to the start of the festival. Event staff at the door wouldn't let us drop off our stuff at the car and return. How silly was that?! Apparently, some staff allowed this dependent in which parking you parked at. Several runners were upset and got into an argument with the staff at the front. No bueno!! We hung out for a bit until all the vendors finished setting up. Lots of cute little crafts and plenty of mandarins to buy. The mandarins were very sweet this year. I was excited about the bbq turkey leg since it's my fav at the state fair. Unfortunately, for $12 a leg, it wasn't worth it. The turkey leg was cold and dry. I love the mandarins though and the vendors were very nice. read more

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We love this festival. The perfect size and so many thing to see and taste. Not to mention the best Mandarin's. We tried just about ever mandarin to taste, we ended up picking two bags this year. Just to hard to decide who was the best. We found parking to be very easy this year. We love the local flavor of all the vendors, so many of the vendors are close by and you can find them in town, after the festival is over This year we found a new vendor to us, #Burlybeverages Burly makes natural soda syrup, shrubs and old-timely switches. I tried three of the many flavors and loved the Mandarin-Elderflower. We are looking forward to mixing this up for our holiday dinner, so everyone in the family can try it. I love they are also a local business right here in Sacramento. read more

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This is review number Maestro or Maestra a few notes on the piano if you please, Fifteen, of Mandarin Mountain Marketplace. It used to be known as Mandarin Festival. Now is Mandarin Mountain Marketplace. We went yesterday November 20, 2021. We had won two Complimentary Admission tickets from previous event. Of course the theme is Mandarins. One vendor, spin the wheel, if you answer question correctly, you get a prize. My question was What Is The Benefit Of Eating A Mandarin? My answer is It Is Very Good Source Has Lots Vitamin C. When One Gives Blood, The Vitamin C Food Eaten With Food That Has Lots Iron, The Vitamin C Food Helps Absorb The Iron. I won. I picked or chose package of bandaids. Cooking demonstrations. One, the trivia. Mandarins were for long time in China eaten by only Royalty. Then was decided that any person will be allowed to eat Mandarins. The first Mandarins brought to USA in nineteenth century. Four states known for growing Mandarins. The four are Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and California. Yes this is a fun event. Even a petting zoo. read more

Mandarin Festival - Now called Mandarin Mountain Marketplace but will not allow me submit to it - Festivals Near Me - Auburn, California

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I always love coming to this festival and they have a lot of vendors selling cool flavored olive oils, jams and dressings with orange/mandarin flair. I noticed in the past few years since I've gone, the price for admission had jumped from $8 to $10, plus the cost of parking. Park further away if you are able to walk a bit further and find parking nearby. The mandarin glazed donuts are always pretty cool. As another reviewer mentioned, aside from the theme of mandarins, it's a pretty typical food festival like the Pear, Peach and Strawberry festivals that they have going on in the nearby areas. Aside from a few treats, they don't actually have a ton of mandarin themed food items. They have some food court options with your more standard fair food, artisan vendors and MLMs. Going forward, I hesitate to go to any events like this with a cover charge unless you're the State Fair. There are plenty of themed free festivals you can attend without the ridiculous cover charge just to get in and spend more money. I might not attend this year as I'm traveling out of the area the day before, but honestly with the $10 entrance fee they're asking for now, I'd rather just go to some of the familiar vendor's websites and order directly. https://snowscitrus.com/ https://www.newcastlemandarinranch.com/ read more

Great time at the mandarin fest! Plenty to eat, drink, see, and buy! Bring the family! read more

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Mandarin everything! Well...not everything goes with mandarin oranges, but I had a perfectly crafted, refreshing gin and mandarin cocktail ($10)! I forgot what they called it but it was made with gin, Malibu rum, lemon juice, and mandarins. I think that was the only mandarin product I tried all day. I did see mandarin beer, mandarin bloody mary's, mandarin glazed mini donuts, mandarin kettle corn, chocolate covered mandarins, mandarin BBQ sauce, and mandarin marmalade. I didn't see the mandarin breads and pastries that were showcased on "Good Day Sacramento" the day before. All gone! We sampled fresh mandarin segments from various orchard vendors, whom by Sunday afternoon were either sold out or close to selling out! (Pro tip: buy your mandarins early!) This annual Mountain Mandarin Festival is held on the old Auburn fairgrounds. It's small, but it totally had that feel of a cozy, homey, county fair. So, if you're not into all the crowds or the chaos of the State Fair, then this is a nice little festival to attend and still get a "fair" experience. (Haha...pun intended!) They had all the usual fair foods available and Drewski's food truck. They had live entertainment and the cutest little mandarin mascot walking around. There was a free shuttle train and a kids area with pony rides, a petting zoo, a giant inflatable slide, and rock climbing wall. There are a few buildings with crafts, food, and vendors selling different home and personal wares. It's not much, but still offered a good selection. Even though this festival/fair is on a smaller scale, prices are equivalent to being at Cal Expo. Admission is $8 for adults, 12 and under free, and $6 for parking. The going rate for a 5 lb. bag of mandarins was $8-9. I ended up getting a 3 lb. bag of organic mandarins for $5. If you prefer small town fairs and festivals, enjoy breathing fresh air, and love all things mandarin, check it out next year! read more

Mandarin Festival - Mandarin Festival 2017 - Festivals Near Me - Auburn, California

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I'm not particularly happy about admission fees to food fairs/festivals and parking fee on top of that. However the main complaint I've read about in other reviews that I too see this year is the large amount of non-mandarin related vendors, BUT I guess it's best to accept any and all vendors to bring down their cost to have the event? I don't know but I wished MORE food vendors would get onboard with the food theme, in this case, mandarins. I saw mandarin flavored BBQ sauces, honey, straight juices and smoothies and bags of mandarins. $14 for 10 pounds. But for a mandarin festival you'd expect more mandarin inspired food variety. Nonetheless this was my first visit and I enjoyed myself. I liked the variety of vendors that were there but again as others said, wished there were more Mandarin inspired vendors. read more

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Best place to sample Mandarin Oranges from several local growers... Get the freshest just pick fruits just in time for the holidays. Our favorite growers are Miller Honey & Magnolia Farms... Also it is the best way to support our local small business growers. read more

This was my first time at the festival, I saw a flier for the event while I was at the state fair. Yesterday the Mr. and I checked out the Mountain Mandarin Festival at the Gold Country Fairgrounds. Our main goal was to find the grower that had the sweetest tasting mandarins, so sweet that it was like eating candy. I was more excited to find out a few days before the festival that Placer county mandarins are the best to get because of their high levels of synephrine (used in cold and flu remedies). We were determined to not get sick in the next 6 months so our flu shots along with our oranges would surely help. It was funny sampling all the oranges from the different orchards because it reminded me of wine tasting. Even though they were all mandarin oranges, each farm had their own distinct flavors. Some were completely sour while others were flavorless. Of the 14 grower we tried, the two that made the cut were Traylor Ranch and Side Hill Citrus Organic. We only purchased one mandarin themed food which was mandarin orange kettle corn. We bought a huge bag and are almost done with it. Just for the hell of it let's go through the list of what they were serving shall we? Chocolate covered mandarins, mandarin milkshake, mandarin dessert pizza, mandarin gelato, mandarin funnel cake, mandarin corn dog, mandarin shaved ice, mandarin soda, mandarin egg rolls, mandarin bbq pork sandwhiches, mandarin mini donuts, mandarin chicken sandwhich, onion rings with mandarin sauce, chocolate dipped mandarins, mandarin orange fudge, mandarin flan.... and so much more! Besides food there's also an inflatable race track for the kids at the entry way, various rides for the kids, and your usual vendors selling various impulsive buys (kitchenware, soaps, spices). I think the only impulse purchase that would be worth getting is your own mandarin tree. Before leaving, we bought 20 pounds worth of oranges and of today we are a quarter of a way done with them. read more

Mandarin Festival - 2008 Logo - Festivals Near Me - Auburn, California

I attended this festival in November 2021. There was ample parking for $6 per car. Entrance fee $10 per adult. There were a lot of people since we went on a weekend. There were, of course, many vendors selling sacks of mandarin. They were more expensive than if you buy them from the supermarkets. But to support the farmers, we bought a sack. There were other items for sale like olive oil, balsamic vinegars, citrus -scented wreaths, etc. There was a big pavilion for different items for sale. There was an animal petting area for kids. These are all typical of a festival. There are not many stalls that sell food like sandwiches or real food for lunch. I saw a stall for pizza and another for pretzels. There was a stall for mandarin juice, mandarin fruit spread and bbq sauce. You'll find these items in some stores nearby outside the festival. I was hoping to see food stalls selling foods like chicken bbq in mandarin flavored sauce or mandarin-infused olive oil used on baked salmon or on veggie salad, or rice pilaf flavored with mandarin and cardamon. Or at least sell a mandarin-raspberry drink. In short, there is an obvious lack of creativity in the foods sold in this festival. It's just a bunch of vendors selling the mostly the same old stuff you'll find in other festivals. But if you're after supporting local farmers, it is probably worth a visit and spending all that money, at least once. read more

Typical small town festival with fair food, knick knacks for sale, rides for little kids and lots of free samples of mandarins. Nothing too exciting but a good place to kill a few hours. Check it out with the family. I thought 7 bucks was a little much for adult admission but saw there was a 2 for 1 flier floating around if you search for it. read more

There was a lot of standard hocking of non-interesting goods. However, there were a few independent artist / craft people (ceramics, posters, glass blowers). They were all tucked away in a building in the back. Plenty of mandarins and plenty of mandarin derivatives (marmalade, BBQ sauce, smoothies, etc). Go on Friday for $3 and it's worth it for about 3 hours of wandering. read more

Disappointing. Admission to this fair? Why? One of the mandarin vendors said it's cheaper to buy it from their stand than at the festival. The rain must have scared everyone away, since it was pretty empty when we went. Not much to do. Kind of interesting sampling the mandarins to select a favorite, but after a while they kind of taste the same. It's just as fun to go to the actual growers and sample the mandarins (they'll usually give you a whole one free) and see where they grow. read more

I've attended multiple festivals and they've steadily declined in value. The main reason for this latest score was that the organizers are more focused on collecting money from vendors than they are about getting the right vendors and keeping costs down for customers. At the last festival, myself and at least five others entered some contest as we walked in. They ask you to sit at a convenient computer screen and enter your phone number for prize notification. Everyone I know received call after call from these people insisting we've won the big prize and we needed to come down to fill out more paperwork. I told them I wasn't intersted and even blocked their number only to get calls from another one of their numbers! When I notified the Mountain Mandarin Festival about the deceptive practices of one of their vendors, I got zero sympathy. All they said was that it was my fault for entering. I watched hundreds of people signing up to win the grand prize and all I can imagine is that hundreds of people are also pissed off. But that is of ZERO concern to the organizers. Not going back. Fruit is better deal at the farms direct. Remember when the festival was a quaint small town affair in New Castle? Much better then. read more

What a gem of a festival. They had lots of fresh picked mandarins -- who knew. I heard that the Food vendors must offer at least one item that features Mandarin Oranges. So, I gave it a try and the mandarin BBQ pork was fantastic! Will be going back. read more

I'm an Auburn native and had 5 mandarin trees (among 17 other fruit trees) when I lived there. Growing up in a small town with festivals and parades was Heaven. Two years ago I moved to the Midwest. I looked so forward to attending festivals in my new state. Here's the problem with much of the Midwest and Northeast, it's the weather. Because the weather is unpredictable, and pop up storms are the norm, you just don't have a lot of festivals and very few parades. Trust me, I've done my research. Even in the middle of a beautiful summer day, you can get pop up storms and torrential downpours. I say this because while no festival is perfect, just be glad you live in an area that has them. Where there is unpredictable weather, there are fewer opportunities to socialize with the public, and people tend to hide. Never take sunny and beautiful California with its friendly people for granted. I LOVE THE MOUNTAIN MANDARIN FESTIVAL! Mandarins are truly a magical fruit that are only grown a handful of places, so eat up! I'll be bringing a huge bag back with me to the Midwest, where you can't get them. I'm very happy about that read more