Castroville Artichoke Festival

In 1922, Angelo del Chiaro and his cousin leased 150 acres from Molera and expanded the artichoke crop.

A pancake breakfast and a barbecue were added to the event and, in 1959, a band leader and three local business owners formed the Castroville Artichoke Advisory Board.

It includes a parade, live music, an agro art competition with three-dimensional fruit and vegetable artwork, farmers markets, field tours, artichoke souvenirs sales, wine, beer & spirits garden, cooking demos, 5k beach run, canasta (basket) race, quilt challenge, and a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like contest.

[8] The food at the festival includes artichokes – fried, sauteed, grilled, marinated, pickled, fresh, and creamed as soup, and cooked into cupcakes.

In the Netflix series Stranger Things, the character Dustin wears a Castroville Artichoke Festival shirt in episodes 6–8.