The California Honey Festival has been relocated from downtown Woodland to the Yolo County Fairgrounds located at 1250 E. Gum Ave. due to a rainy and windy forecast for Saturday.
Al Eby, a representative for Visit Woodland and an organizer for the 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. event, said organizers did not take this decision lightly and addressed concerns expressed by the community through social media.
“We just want everybody to be patient with us,” he emphasized. “We’re making the best of unfortunate weather circumstances but we will get through this. At the end of the day, we’ll laugh about this and say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe we pulled this off.’”
Eby said he understands people’s desire to instead reschedule the event but noted that this would be impossible because of insurance, volunteer and law enforcement availability, permits and more.
“I have to worry about multiple things with the safety of attendees and vendors being first and foremost,” Eby argued. “You can’t risk that just because some people are upset.”
According to AccuWeather, wind is expected to be around 13 mph with gusts of around 30 mph and roughly four hours of rain expected.
Additionally, Eby explained that event sponsors from across California and the presenter, SugarBee Apples, from Washinton, could not accommodate to rescheduling the event for another day because they could not make last-minute changes to their travel plans.
“We really tried to figure out how to best serve the community and I feel just terrible that we have to do it,” he remarked. “I’m very thankful that Sarah [Pelle], the new CEO of the Yolo County Fairgrounds, was more than accommodating and tried to make this work.”
Eby added that the festival will occur concurrently with the Yolo County 4-H Show Art & Science Fair noting that the Main Expo Building will be shared by the festival and several 4-H exhibits.
The festival will be held in four buildings including the Main Expo Building, Ag Floral Building, John Rogers building and Waite Hall with a food court in between Waite Hall and the Main Expo Building.
Furthermore, Eby addressed concerns that the festival relocation will have a negative impact on downtown businesses and restaurants that rely on the increased business the festival brings them.
Although he doesn’t have a solution for this issue, he noted that the festival launched a California Honey Festival Restaurant Week with SugarBee Apples. The event featured 19 local restaurants making dishes with honey and SugarBee Apples in their ingredients.
“We’re just trying to let people know and encourage them” to visit restaurants, Eby said. “All we can do is let them know that there are still shops downtown that support the Honey Festival, please patronize them as well.”
Participating restaurants include Father Paddy’s, El Charro, The Burger Saloon, Las Brasas, Savory Café, The HIVE Tasting Room & Kitchen, Mojo’s Lounge & Kitchen, He’s From Philly Cheesesteaks, After Hours Boba &Tea, Maria’s Cantiana, Morgans on Main, Morgans Mill, Gallery Coffee Roasters, Casa del Pan, Las Milpas Taqueria, Sally’s Restaurant & Grill, Blue Note Brewing Company and Stirred, Not Shaken Cookies. For a full list of what each restaurant is offering, visit californiahoneyfestival.com/chf-restaurant-week.
Despite the relocation, Eby believes this festival will turn out well and accomplish it’s main goal, which is to celebrate bees as pollinators and educate the public on their importance. Eby and other organizers attempted to do this by having 2024 American Honey Queen Kaelyn Sumner visit local schools for the past week to talk about how beneficial bees are.
“It got a lot more attention into the school system and that’s really a big important factor for the educational aspect for us,” he argued.
Lastly, Eby thanked his team of staff and volunteers for being able to pivot and make the necessary changes to relocate the festival.
“They are absolutely stunning when they pivot like this and amazing to just be able to turn around, stop, regroup and face the challenges that are thrown at us every minute,” Eby stressed. “Words are not enough. I wish I could just say, ‘Here’s a check for $50,000,’ but that’s just not reality.”
For more information about the festival, visit californiahoneyfestival.com.
