The Crush - September 2019 - 3

[ FROM THE PRESIDENT ]

The Best California Festivals Showcase Wine
TOURISTS CAN CELEBRATE WITH WINE TASTINGS AND GRAPE STOMPING

By John Aguirre
Recently, I dined with Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop, whose rural
district is heavily agricultural and is home to our nation's most
famous peanut farmer, 39th President Jimmy Carter. Bishop is
a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives and he
chairs the agriculture appropriations subcommittee. Bishop was
visiting our state to see and learn about California agriculture,
which is why some agricultural leaders and I had dinner with
him in downtown Sacramento.
Over dinner our group talked about a variety of topics with
Bishop. We talked about labor and immigration, trade,
agricultural research, rural development and much more. We also
talked about lighter topics. One such topic was the many unique
Georgia festivals Bishop has attended during his congressional
career. It's a legislator's obligation to participate in hometown
parades and festivals of every type. We laughed as Bishop
regaled us with stories of the many festivals his constituents
expect him to attend: The Big Pig Jig, the Whigham Rattlesnake
Roundup, Georgia Peach Festival, Pecan Festival of Georgia, the
Fire Ant Festival, and many more.
Bishop said the Fire Ant Festival, which includes the annual
crowning of a Miss Fire Ant, is the most unusual of the many
festivals on his calendar. The first year he attended the Fire Ant
Festival he was expected to participate in the fire ant calling
contest, which he admitted was awkward. Despite our request,
he had no intention of sharing with us his fire ant call.
Throughout history, many festivals evolved from communal
celebrations of religious events, the annual harvest, feasting or
the advent of spring. Spain celebrates La Tomatina, a tomato
fight involving 20,000 people, and Italy has its Battle of Oranges
festival in February. In Oaxaca, Mexico, the Night of the Radishes
is celebrated every year on Dec. 23.
As a nation, Spain probably deserves the title of "country with
the weirdest festivals." The country is well known for its Fiesta
of San Fermin, i.e., the running of the bulls. But, many other
of the nation's festivals are just out-and-out weird - I mean,
even weirder than Georgia's Fire Ant Festival. There is El
Colacho, the baby jumping festival; Entroida, which involves the
slinging of muddy rags at one another; Fiesta de Santa Mara de
Ribarteme, also known as the Near Death Festival; and the Goat

Tossing Festival in the town of
Manganeses de la Polvorosa (in
2000 they stopped tossing live
goats from the town's church
tower and now use toy goats).
While California can be strange,
our festivals fall well into the
mainstream, and most California
festivals are focused on food and
beverages. The Visit California
website proclaims California is,
"...the national leader in food festivals." Every commodity and
region in the state would seem to be represented by a festival.
Carpinteria celebrates the California Avocado Festival,
Castroville has its Artichoke Food and Wine Festival, Gilroy is
home to the Garlic Festival and Stockton hosts the San Joaquin
Asparagus Festival. Pumpkins are celebrated in Half Moon
Bay, tamales have a festival in Indio, Woodland celebrates the
Crawdads and Catfish Festival, and Sacramento is home to the
Farm-to-Fork Festival.
But, I'm confident the single most common and popular types
of California festivals involve wine. Mendocino has its Crab and
Wine Days, there's the Festival Napa Valley, the California Wine
Festival, the Lodi Grape Festival, Pebble Beach Food and Wine
Festival, and Taste of Sonoma - just to name a handful.
Festivals are an integral part of the larger fabric of events
and infrastructure within the state that attract tourists and
California's wine industry is an enormous draw for tourism.
California wineries and vineyards are responsible for 23.6
million tourist visits annually, resulting in more than $7.2 billion
in annual tourism expenditures, which in turn is responsible
for more than 47,500 jobs in our state. Now that's something to
celebrate.

Cheers to California Wine!
September marks the 15th annual California Wine Month
A toast to our winegrape growers and all
who contribute to the winegrape industry!

SEPTEMBER 2019 / 3
https://www.visitcalifornia.com https://www.visitcalifornia.com https://www.discovercaliforniawines.com/california-wine-month/
The Crush - September 2019

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