If you’ve been following along on my Instagram lately, you may have notice a few of the delicious pictures I posted from Knott’s Boysenberry Festival.
I had the opportunity to spend a day in the Park, enjoying many of their boysenberry-inspired foods and drinks. I got so excited to see Ghost Town all decked out for the occasion!
Did you know that the boysenberry originated at Knott’s? Yep! The roots of Knott’s Berry Farm stretch back to the early 1930s when Walter Knott nurtured the only surviving boysenberry vines back to health and began selling the berries from his fruit stand on Beach Blvd. in Buena Park, California. 
The popular purple little boysenberry put Knott’s Berry Farm on the road to being America’s first theme park. The rest, as they say, is history. As the birthplace of the delectable boysenberry Knott’s Berry Farm.
Knott’s Boysenberry Festival runs from April 1-23 this year. During the festival, guests have the opportunity to enjoy boysenberry foods, both sweet and savory, and boysenberry-inspired craft beer and wine. Trust me when I say that you need to try all of the special boysenberry offerings during Knott;s Boysenberry Festival. One of the best ways to get a tasting of a variety of these foods is by purchasing a Festival Tasting Card. For just $25, you’ll get to sample 6 different items. As you can see, I started with one of the desserts, Boysenberry Panna Cotta! 
The Festival Tasting Card gives you quite a bit of food as you get samples of Boysenberry BBQ Meatballs, Boysenberry Fry Bread, Boysenberry Buffalo Wings, Boysenberry Ravioli, Boysenberry Panna Cotta, and Boysenberry Pizza!
I loved all of the items I got to try but I couldn’t stop there because there was still so much more boysenberry goodness to try! Some of the other boysenberry items you can find during the festival include:
- Ribs and grilled chicken smothered in Knott’s farm-made Berry Market Boysenberry BBQ sauce
- Corn on the Cob with Boysenberry Butter and Boysenberry Mayo
- Boysenberry Short Ribs over rice
- Deep Fried Alligator & Fries with Boysenberry Aioli
- Chocolate covered Boysenberry cheesecake on a stick
- Boysenberry Corn Dog
- Boysenberry & Apricot Pulled Pork Sandwich in a Boysenberry Bun Combo
- Boysenberry Nutella crepes
- Boysenberry Cookiewich Sandwich & Boysenberry Ice Cream Cone
- Boysenberry Flautas
- Boysenberry Cotton Candy
- Boysenberry ICEE floats, Boysenberry Cream Soda, and Boysenberry Lattes & Frappuccinos
- Fun Bun – Fried Cinnamon Roll with Boysenberry Cream Cheese Topping
Many of the special Knott’s brand jams, jellies, sauces, candies, and other boysenberry products are available year-round inside the park in General Store (located in Ghost Town) and outside the park at Berry Market (located in the California MarketPlace), as well as online. This is such great news for someone like me who is obsessed with all things boysenberry.
Aside from all of the boysenberry goodness at Knott’s Boysenberry Festival, there’s also a great lineup of entertainment for the whole family, you won’t want to miss including Snoopy’s Boysenberry Jamboree (on the Calico Mine Stage), Old Time Melodrama (Bird Cage Theater), The History of Boysenberry & Knott’s Berry Farm (in Town Hall), Cloud 9 Ballroom/Studio K Classic Dance Party (in the Boardwalk Ballroom), Wild West Stunt Show: Frontier Feats of Wonder! (in Wagon Camp Theater), and the fun Camptivities (in Camp Snoopy). Also stop by Calico Park for some fun, music & games and visit the animals Old MacDonald’s Farm (in Ghost Town).
Knott’s Boysenberry Festival is a must-do. Be sure to stop by before April 23rd! For more information, visit Knott’s Berry Farm’s site here.
This year Knott’s Boysenberry Festival begins on April 1st and will offer park guests 23 days of special boysenberry offerings, After attending a media tasting and getting a sneak peek at this year’s menu, I’m pretty sure this year’s Boysenberry Festival is going to be the best one by far!
Knott’s has a line-up of over 70 mouthwatering boysenberry-inspired foods and drinks to choose taste this year. You’re not going to want to miss out on any of it! I was absolutely wow-ed by some of the new offerings this year’s Boysenberry Festival! First of all, they’ve got an incredible Boysenberry Pizza that will drive your palette crazy! 
It’s made with arugula, smoked ham, and goat cheese, and topped with Knott’s very own boysenberry Sriracha sauce. It was delicious!
Another new menu item is the boysenberry ravioli! Who would’ve thought? This ravioli dish is packed with boysenberry flavors and so savory! Also new for this year is the freshly-baked boysenberry fry bread! Mmm!
Some other guest favorites from years past, which will be offered again this year, include:
Guests who want to take home the exquisite Boysenberry BBQ sauce, Boysenberry Butter, Boysenberry Dressing and Boysenberry Chipotle Sauce can do so by stopping by the Berry Market located in the California MarketPlace and General Store located in Ghost Town. *Select items are available on the online Berry Market store.
One of the best ways to experience the Boysenberry Festival is with a Boysenberry Bites Tasting Card. For only $25, the tasting card includes generous portions of six delectable treats:
Guests at the Boysenberry Festival can also visit the Wine and Craft Brew Garden, which is located inside of Ghost Town’s Wilderness Dance Hall. Those guests who are 21 years of age and older can enjoy 4 craft brews and over 50 different wines from 36 producers including boysenberry beer and boysenberry wine. There’s also a tasting card iavailable for only $25, which includes 6 tastings paired with snacks.
As you can see, there is lots to see and do at Knott’s Boysenberry Festival this year! In addition to all of these food and beverage offerings, there’s also an entire lineup of live entertainment during the festival, which I’ll be sharing more about once it begins. To see a schedule of the live entertainment, go 
Whether it’s a visit during their 
The Anniversary Celebration will also feature other $2.00 activities including:
In honor of their Anniversary Celebration, Irvine Park Railroad will host raffles on both Saturday and Sunday, every hour from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Winners will receive Irvine Park Railroad prizes ranging in value from $60.00 to $300.00. To add even more fun for visitors, a live band will play on both days from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.
While you’re visiting Irvine Park Railroad inside Irvine Regional Park, be sure to visit the park’s other activities including Wheel Fun Rentals® at Irvine Park bike and paddle boat rentals, pony rides and the Orange County Zoo.
Starting November 26 and running through January 1, Great Wolf Lodge will have a limited number of Snowland Suites available, so book yours 
Spectacular decorations throughout the lodge
North Pole University activities
As you can see, there’s a lot going on over at Great Wolf Lodge during Snowland. It’s the chance to create some new holiday memories with your family and you won’t want to miss out!
The Shops at Mission Viejo will offer the following special Festive Hours: 
While you’re there, don’t forget to stop by to see Santa! He’s waiting for you in the Lower Level near Nordstrom! Catch a visit with him before he leaves back to The North Pole on December 24! 
Connect with The Shops at Mission Viejo on 
One of our favorite annual traditions this time of year is to visit Irvine Park Railroad for their Christmas Train! Have you been before? It’s open 7 days a week from December 1-December 23rd and it’s a family event that’s not to be missed! It’s also so popular that it sells out very quickly! (Tickets for the Christmas Train may only be purchased in advance, online and are $12.00 per person. Children 24 months and younger are free. Click 
Irvine Park Railroad’s Christmas train will take you on an enchanting night ride through the historic Irvine Regional Park to meet Santa Claus. The train departs from the brightly-lit train station and drops passengers off at the North Pole. 
Children can share their wish list with Santa (print out a free wish list to fill out and bring to Santa 
In addition to an option to purchase a Santa photo taken by Irvine Park Railroad, you may also take pictures with your own personal camera.
After visiting with Santa, you’ll hop back aboard the train and enjoy the colorful Christmas lights and decorations, as well as the magical “Tunnel of Lights”, on the ride back to Santa’s Village.
Santa’s Village is a fun area that includes a variety of festive activities, some require tickets, while others are free.
Santa’s Village Activities include:
Irvine Park Railroad is located inside of Irvine Regional Park, which has a fee to enter. Prices are as follows:
This year they’ll host their 11th annual Pumpkin Patch, which will be open beginning September 17th! The family friendly event, located just inside of Irvine Regional Park, includes fun activities for all ages. 
The Pumpkin Patch is located in Locomotive Loop and Miner’s Meadow just behind the train station. Thousands of pumpkins, in all shapes and sizes, fill the areas behind the train station. All visitors are sure to find the perfect pumpkin! 
This year’s Pumpkin Patch activities will include:
Admission into the Pumpkin Patch is free. Prices for all other activities vary; please visit 
The Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch is open daily from September 17th through October 31st.
Visit Irvine Regional Park’s other activities including Wheel Fun Rentals® at Irvine Park — fun and unique bike rentals that can be enjoyed by single riders or an entire family — paddle boat rentals, the Orange County Zoo and pony rides. Bike and paddle boat rentals are open daily at 10:00 am.
I’m excited to announce that Irvine Park Railroad is providing a prize package for one of my readers! The package includes 6 activity tickets, 1 Wheel Fun Rentals at Irvine Park Bike Double Surrey Rental, and 1 Paddle boat rental. To enter, go to the Rafflecopter below. Good luck and thanks for reading!
It’s kind of funny to look at the fashion trends for back to school this year because they remind me of when was in high school! Lots of denim, including denim jackets and acid wash jeans, lace, plaids, chunky boots, preppy pieces, florals, and the best part is that they call a lot of it “vintage”.
Champs – Every kid needs tennis shoes. Some wear them every day as school shoes, some kids change into them for P.E. They have a huge selection of shoes in sizes ranging from toddler to adult. Champs also has t-shirts, shorts, workout wear, hats, athletic socks, and more. 
Charlotte Russe – The first thing that caught my daughter’s eye were the shoes! They had a big selection of the ankle boots that I used to wear. They also have a ton of denim choices and adorable tops and jackets. We found a lot of things to buy for school here. 
Claire’s – If you’re a “girl mom” you probably already know about Claire’s. It’s more than just the place to get your ears pierced, it’s the ultimate accessory shop. They have a huge selection of necklaces, earrings, bracelets, hair accessories, backpacks and purses, phone cases and holders, tablet covers, stickers, nail polishes and lip glosses and more! The girls were all over the sparkly pineapple accessories!
Well, as you can see, we had a lot of luck during our back to school shopping! Have you finished all of yours yet?