Happy Valley Strawberry Festival

Hokey, but fun. Obviously, if you love strawberries, come join the fun. There’s always games, prizes, booths and lots of shortcake. Don’t leave without filling your belly with shortcake!

The Happy Valley Strawberry Festival is one among many food related festivals in the Redding area: the beer festival, the crab feed, the blackberry festival. All of them appeal to a certain demographic – the beer fest gets a lot of middle aged men, the blackberry fest seems to draw a high number of people who smell like incense and pot, and the strawberry festival makes me feel as if I’ve been transported to the heart of Utah.
While the strawberry shortcake didn’t meet my expectations (the crates full of Hostess shortcake bread sort of ruined it for me), it was worth the drive into Happy Valley just to see all the old-​timey goodness. The women here wear long denim skirts in the heat of summer, the men were all plucking on banjos, and the children were singing religious hymns along with the banjo pucking. I’m fascinated – a little bit scared – but fascinated.