California Candy Festival: Bigger And Better

The 2011 California Candy Festival will be arriving to the Jelly Belly Factory this Saturday for a day full of fun and activity for the whole family. Fairfield and Suisun Public Education Foundation, the organization putting on the festival, expects more than 10,000 visitors to flock to the 15 acres of fun planned for the event.

“We think it is an event that has the potential to grow significantly and it could be a sustainable annual fundraiser,” said Curt Johnston, festival Chairman.

A fairly new nonprofit, FSPEF works to support the Fairfield-Suisun and Travis Unified School Districts. Fundraisers the nonprofit puts together go toward grants within the two districts for educational projects. The idea of the festival came from a similar candy festival held in downtown Fairfield.

“We were looking for a sustainable, quality event that we could properly fund and stand behind and develop it into a regional event that would generate funds and the candy festival, for us, seemed to be fairly obvious,” said Johnston

Johnston said the amounts allotted for grants will depend on how well the festival does, but the nonprofit expects for it to grow each year. He said one of the main reasons he believes the festival will thrive beyond that of Fairfield’s downtown candy festival is because they are offering more and are setting it up as a means to earn revenue.

“We think that moving it to Jelly Belly, it’s just going to be a great event.,” he said “We have a lot more entertainment than what you would have seen downtown, and quite frankly it’s a much different event. It’s not vendor booths, that’s not the primary purpose for the event. Of course we have the candy and dessert sampling, but we also have high quality entertainment.”

Attractions will include candy and dessert tasting; music and live entertainment including the Bay Area’s own Latin rock band, Malo and 16-year-old country music artist, McKenna Faith; pony rides, ferris wheel, prize giveaways, kid area with games and rides; a 35-foot-tall zip line, tours at the Jelly Belly Factory, and the world’s biggest candies party. Adults will also have opportunity to purchase beer and wine. Chocolate and wine pairings will also be available.

Admission covers candy and dessert tasting, tours, and live music and is free for children 12 and under. Military and Senior admission is $5, regular adult admission is $10, and VIP admission is $25. Parking is free, however closer parking is available for a fee.

For more information, visit the website.