Ojai Valley Lavender Festival

After many years of wanting to go to the Lavender Festival, I finally had the opportunity to go this past June. There were some lavender items — flower bunches (ALL with bees in/​around them), soaps, sachets, baked goods (samples did not impress at all), etc.
Mostly just a delightful small town fair with many of the typical booths. There were too many olive oil/​balsamic booths and too many hot sauce booths. And there were the regulars that you see at all the other festivals in the area selling tie-​dye clothing, imported cheap purses, etc.
There were two problems with our day. First of all, the line for the lemonade stand was so long the several hours we were there that we never had the opportunity to have any. And it was hot so we kinda needed a cold drink. Secondly, the place was crawling with dogs, totally annoying if you are trying to walk/​stand/​shop as they were constantly underfoot. The website clearly states no dogs allowed, but I may be the only person who actually saw it.
The good news is that were able to score a perfect parking spot on the main drag directly in front of the Festival, allowing us to put our very few purchases in the car instead of feeling loaded down with packages on an extremely hot day.
We took our time and spend about 1 ½ hours at the Festival. Could have passed much faster if we wanted.

We were in town for a different event, and so happened the Lavender Festival was also going on. We left our event at 4:00 and the festival was still going, and we were fortunate to find a parking spot about a block away.
When you think of «Lavender Festival» you would think there’s more, well, lavender? There were a few booths which promoted lavender, from selling bunches of the actual flowers, selling sachets, soaps and scents made from the lavender, to breads from lavender, and even lavender lemonade.
There were quite a few vendors who sold craft items, clothing, fair trade items, jewelry, and handbags, which had nothing to do with Lavender. There was even a petting zoo and a Golden Retriever rescue booth. Its a nice, small-​town event, but its not any different than going to the Fair, only its a smaller scale.
Fortunately the event was free, and we found free parking. The saving grace on coming toward the end of the festival was it was cooler, and the crowd had gone home.
If I so happen to be in Ojai for the festival, I’d check it out, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back just for this.

Mmmmm… love me some Lavender.
But such a darn pity shame there wasn’t much of it here.
Seems like most themed festivals do that nowadays. You know… bring everybody to the party but the honored guest. Hellooooooo? Where tha lavender AT? Note to the organizers: slap us in the face with lavender next time, please? There is a reason that people come to this festival, and it ain’t for peanuts. Take a guess.
–Shout out to the Lavender lemonade vendor. Offering those refills made you #1 in my eyes.
–I’m rocking the HELL out of my bag created from recycled blue jeans, made by Blue River. The compliments won’t stop.
–And I was able to snag a nice bundle of lavender at $ 3 for the road. Great idea. Car smelled lovely.
Let me coordinate this festival next year. I will show you how to make this shit magical. Think about it over coffee.

I’m totally confused by this. It’s a lavendar festival, but there really isn’t much lavendar. It was mostly just a small gathering with booths in a small park. It was nice to get out of LA for the day, but this wasn’t what we expected.

I’ve lived in Ojai for about eight years and this was the first year I visited the Lavender Festival. As expected, it’s a small-​town faire with lots of different vendors in pop-​up tents selling stuff. There were quite a few vendors selling lavender products, including foods, drinks, soaps, and other awesome artisan products. Additionally, there are a lot of booths of non-​lavender stuff such as clothing, jewelry, foods, and the Ojai Raptor Center. The event is held in Libby Park and there’s a decent mix of sun and shade. Lots of booths (for a city of this size) and a wide variety of cool stuff. Prices are high — it’s Ojai so people charge extra for that, but I had a good time. Sampled some really splendid balsamic vinegar (there were multiple vendors selling really fantastic flavored vinegars) and bought a citrus sugar cookie for too much money ($ 2 per cookie!).
I met some cool local artists that I hope to see again at future events.

This is my favorite festival of the year, I call it my «Mental Health Day» and I LOVE it! This year it was unbearably hot, but in the 4 years we have gone, this is the only time that happened, so I can’t really hold it against the festival.
It is heavenly to stroll around Libbey Park on a Lavender ‘high’…lovely vendors, lavender lemonade and so many delightful treasures, I don’t know where to start. It is worth the drive from the West San Fernando Valley for the day, even in the heat… I can’t wait for next year.

We visited Ojai for the first time this year in February. We got some cute local magazines and found out about the Lavender Festival. I thought it was different and since Ojai already reminded me of Provence and Tuscany we wanted to come back and see what’s going on.
Unfortunately, on the day of the festival it was super hot and we didn’t stay as long as we wanted.
The festival is organized inside Libbey Park, they have lots of tents with various lavender type products, flowers, lotions, soaps, lemonades, cookies with lavender flavor. You can taste them too. They do offer samples. They also sell art, jewelry, clothes, food, etc. All from local artists and businesses.
They have a stage with various acts, we didn’t stay long enough to judge.
You can check everything out pretty quick, around an hour to stroll around.
We found street parking pretty quick. But they offered free parking at Ojai Valley Inn and a shuttle to downtown at the fest.
Cute festival, if you’re in the area at the end of June, check it out. For 10 years now, they have it in the last Saturday of June, one day.

What a fun day! This was my first time going to the festival, and I loved it! I was worried my 16 yr old daughter would be bored, but she had a great time. And if you don’t like lavender, don’t worry… there are plenty of other things to do and buy and eat.

I have attended the festival for several year and am looking forward to this year’s 9^th annual Ojai Valley Lavender Festival — Saturday, June 23. There will be more than 120 vendors and in addition to lavender lemonade, sorbet and other treats, many of the local eateries feature lavender items on their menus during the festival as well, like lavender cocktails, gelato, and lunch/​dinner items. Fun afternoon for all!

We drove up from LA to check out the Lavender Festival and had a lovely day. To be honest, it’s not an all-​day affair. We spent about an hour browsing around the booths and enjoyed a little live music in the park before moving on. We did have fun kicking around Ojai for a bit after we were done with the festival.
At the festival, there are a lot of artisans selling lavender-​themed wares, primarily in the form of bath products and food. Most of the food stalls will give out free samples with the hopes that you’ll make a purchase. We had the chance to taste lavender cookies, scones, macaroons, breads, jams, and more. The best thing we ate, though, was lavender frozen yogurt topped with honey, lavender syrup, and dried lavender sprinkles. Four bucks well spent. If you want lunch, it looked like there was a taco stand on site but we didn’t partake. We wound up eating gorditas for lunch at La Fuenta (a.k.a. «Gourmet Tamales») down the road — divey but delicious!
There were also local businesses present selling things from their stores (clothes, potholders, tablecloths, candles, jewelry) as well as some hospitality booths raffling off things like free hotel weekend getaways. And, of course, big bouquets of lavender were for sale all over the festival for $ 5 each.
Overall, it was a unique way to spend a nice summer Saturday, but be prepared to spend some time in Ojai because the festival definitely won’t take all day. There are a couple of nearby wine bars, some cute shopping boutiques, and a farm a few miles away where you can pick your own lavender for $ 5.

we heard about this lavender festival over the internet some time ago, and finally decided to go to their 7^th annual on june 26^th 2010. seems like it’s always a one-​day event.
the festival is held in a park in the middle of downtown ojai (pronounced «o-​hay»). ample parking on the streets, entrance fee is free. in a nut shell, pretty much it’s like a farmers market but with locally grown lavender. did you know that our weather here is the same as the south of france? it’s the perfect climate for lavender, honey, wine, and olives. for lavender fans like myself, that will be like heaven.
there were many different lavender farmers with their booths up. so many different products made of lavender: face & body products, honey, cookies, cakes, essential oils, and fresh bundles of 4 – 5 different kinds of lavender. there were also plants to take home for your garden.
other vendors were handmade jewelry and artwork. somethings you may find in festivals such as the sawdust festival in laguna beach. there were really pretty jewelry out there. wish i bought some!
we took home some lavender cookies, a bundle of lavender, and lavender honey home. ohh they are all so aromatic and soothing! can’t wait for next year’s fesstival. it was worth the drive!