Begonia Festival Looks Back and Moves Forward

The Begonia Festival ended in 2017 with the retirement of the Brown Family at Golden State Bulb Growers. At the conclusion of the 65th and final Festival, the Capitola Begonia Festival Board of Directors developed a plan to honor past festivals and launch a new festival.

To honor the past, the Festival presented a check for $10,000 to the Capitola Historical Museum to archive and curate the history of the festival. On May 8, the Capitola Arts and Cultural Commission will consider plans to construct a piece of commemorative art in the Village, jointly funded by the Festival and the public art fund.

Moving forward, the Board formed the Capitola Beach Festival Committee. Scheduled for September 29 and 30, the Beach Festival will continue: • Traditional Sand Sculpture Contest • Fishing Derby • Rowboat Races • and Horseshoe Tournament.

Plans are also underway for a 3 mile foot race and a Nautical Parade.

Replacing begonias, the Committee hopes to launch the first lighted boat parade on Soquel Creek. Volunteers are welcome at the planning meetings on the first Monday of the month (June 4, July 2 and August 6), 6:30 pm at Capitola City Hall Community Room.

All of Capitola’s begonias came from Golden State’s tuber growing fields. They recently sold their AmeriHybrid® and Antonelli tuberous begonias to Pan American Seed (PAS) based in Chicago, Illinois. PAS plans to market and grow these begonias on a much larger scale for growers and consumers throughout the world. Begonia seeds can be ordered at: custserv@panamseed.com