Summerlin prepares to host annual strawberry festival

view file photoFruit vendor Ginger Johnson gives Karis Fernandez, 3, a strawberry sample during the 2007 Las Vegas Farmers Market Strawberry Festival at Gardens Park in Summerlin. This year’s event, now known as the Summerlin Strawberry Festival, is scheduled for May 11 at Gardens Park, 10401 Garden Park Drive. view file photoFruit vendor Ginger Johnson gives Karis Fernandez, 3, a strawberry sample during the 2007 Las Vegas Farmers Market Strawberry Festival at Gardens Park in Summerlin. This year’s event, now known as the Summerlin Strawberry Festival, is scheduled for May 11 at Gardens Park, 10401 Garden Park Drive. Advertisement

A strawberry toss, a strawberry shortcake-eating contest and a spoon-carry race that features, you guessed it, strawberries.

Get set for all things strawberry when Summerlin hosts the Summerlin Strawberry Festival, scheduled from 4 to 6:30 p.m. May 11 at Gardens Park, 10401 Garden Park Drive. The park is about two blocks north of the Las Vegas Beltway Town Center Drive exit.

This is the fourth year for the event, which coincides with the weekly Las Vegas Farmers Market at the park each Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m.

Diane Biggs of the southwest valley said she loves shopping at farmers markets. She plans to attend the Strawberry Festival.

"There's a peacefulness to it," she said. "It makes for a nice day out. You can take your time, no one's rushing you."

Her grown son is a strawberry lover, so she said she'll make something special for him from the strawberries she'll buy there.

Traci Giesea, special events and recreation coordinator for The Summerlin Council, said the event normally draws more than 1,500 people.

"It's a good chance for us to partner with the farmers market and celebrate spring," she said.

The strawberries are grown in California -- either Santa Maria or the Ontario area. Plans are for them to be picked that morning, then trucked straight to Las Vegas in time for the festival.

Ginger Johnson operates the Las Vegas Farmers Market with her husband, Steve, and said the strawberry festival boosts the exposure of the market. The couple have seen as much as a 50 percent increase in business.

"So often people will say, 'I've been living here 10 years and didn't know you were right here,' " she said.

Besides the chance to shop for produce from the region, expect mascot characters such as Summerlin Sam, face painters, a bounce house and a disc jockey.

One of the games, the strawberry toss, might cause die-hard strawberry lovers to cringe at the waste, but Johnson said prime fruit is not used.

"They come from the bottom of the crate," she said. "They're already a little bruised. We wash them and clean them because small kids end up eating them."

Giesea said the event is a chance to enjoy being outdoors before the intense heat comes. It's also a chance to see your neighbors.

"When you go to these things, you start recognizing people just from the events themselves," she said. "It gives you an excuse to be out and about."

For information, call 341-5500 or visit www.summerlink.com.

Contact Summerlin View and South Summerlin View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.