FALLBROOK — Tens of thousands of visitors packed Main Street on Sunday for the 38th annual Fallbrook Avocado Festival, a celebration of the region’s most iconic crop.
Held each April, the festival highlights the avocado, grown extensively in groves throughout Fallbrook and the surrounding hills of North County San Diego. Organizers estimated this year’s event drew roughly 100,000 attendees.
California produces the majority of the nation’s avocados, with San Diego County among the state’s top growing regions. Nestled in the inland hills near Interstate 15 — dubbed “Avocado Highway” — Fallbrook is often referred to as the “avocado capital of the world.”
The event continues to expand yearly, with hundreds of vendors lining Main Street from Fallbrook Street to East Mission Road. Many shops along the corridor remain open during the festivities, benefiting from increased foot traffic from locals and out-of-town visitors alike.
The festival featured live music, dance performances, a beer garden with local wines and brews, craft food, a kids’ fun zone, and the Artisan Walk on Alvarado. Vendors offered everything from fresh avocados to quirky avocado-themed merchandise.
Many attendees donned creative costumes for the annual “Awesome Avocado Attire Contest.”
The Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce organizes the festival with support from sponsors including Fallbrook Propane Gas Co., which also backs the “Art of the Avocado” contest held during the event.
In this year’s art competition, Lori Beach won first place in photography, Kim Fiori took top honors in the two-dimensional category, and Mary Brockman claimed first place for three-dimensional art.
The Chamber’s special selection was Celeste Weber, who will be invited to design the artwork featured in next year’s Avocado Festival logo.
