Lompoc Valley
FLOWER FESTIVAL 2019
INSIDE
Festival to return for ‘Summertime fun’. PAGE 2
Festival parade features new drill teams. PAGE 4
Flower Festival is a Lompoc tradition. PAGE 6
Lompoc Flower Festival to return June 26-30 for
‘SUMMERTIME FUN’ Willis Jacobson
A2 | Sunday, June 23, 2019 | Lee Central Coast Newspapers
WJACOBSON@LE ECE NT R ALCOASTNEWS.COM
Lompoc’s largest annual festival will return to Ryon Park this month to unofficially usher in the start of summer. The 67th Lompoc Flower Festival is set to kick off on 26, and continue through Sunday, June 30. The five-day event, themed “Summertime Fun & Friends,” will include live music, food booths, arts and crafts vendors, and a carnival, among other features. This year will also see the return of a flower show to the event, which will include a series of pro wrestling shows. Admission to the park will be free on Wednesday, but will be $5 for people 13 and older from Thursday through Sunday. Admission will be free at all times for children ages 12 and younger. Four-day admission passes are available for $15 from the Lompoc Valley Festival Association. Rose Isaac, the chair of this year’s event, said the 2019 theme is especially appropriate for the Lompoc Valley’s longest-running festival. “The festival is all about friends and family,” Isaac said. “There are people that, even though you live in the same town, you don’t see them for a whole year until you go to the festival. … It’s a real social event for Lompoc. It’s a lot of fun and we like people to come from all over and enjoy it with us.” The festival will get underway at 11 a.m. June 26 with the opening of the food and vendor booths and the beer garden. Live entertainment will begin at 11:30 a.m. on the Ryon Park main stage, and the carnival will open at 2 p.m. A formal opening ceremony for the festival will begin at 6 p.m. The event will continue from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. The flower show, which will involve the judging of plants grown at local residences, will return over the weekend after a one-year hiatus, and one of the new features will be two days of Planet Lucha wrestling, which bills itself as “an exciting hybrid of American pro wrestling and Mexican lucha libre with a retro twist.” The first two wrestling shows are scheduled for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. June 29, with two more slated for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. June 30. Those shows will be held
Len Wood, Staff
Riders fly upside down on the Ring of Fire attraction during opening day of the Lompoc Flower Festival in 2018.
in an enclosed venue at Ryon Park, with admission set at $5 per show. Tickets for those shows are available at www. planetlucha.com. The event will also include a parade beginning at 10 a.m. June 29 that will begin at the corner of North H Street and College Avenue and make its way to Ryon Park. Among the featured main-stage entertainment is the Molly Ringwald Project at 8 p.m. June 28, a Heart tribute band named Dog & Butterfly at 8:30 p.m. June 29, and Latin LadiesAdelaide at 4:30 p.m. June 30. The Latin Ladies-Adelaide performance will include tributes to artists such as Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Selena and Gloria Estefan. Isaac, who has been involved with the Lompoc Valley Festival Association for 24 years, said she’s looking forward to welcoming back the Lompoc community’s largest get-together. Isaac has been involved with the festival association in several different capacities, including as a member of its
board of directors for the past 20 years. She said the close-knit feel is what keeps her involved. “It’s something nice for our community to do that the whole family can be involved in and go to, and I really like that,” she said. “I just love the community spirit and
seeing my old friends and catching up with them,” she later added. “And it’s just a really rewarding thing to do, and [the festival volunteers] are like a little family. We get together a couple times a year and put on these events and we thoroughly enjoy doing it.” For more information on this year’s
Enjoy the 67 th
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Flower wer Festiv Festival
Entertainment schedule Wednesday, June 26 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. — Jerry Stickel (variety) 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. — Voice Studio 3 to 4 p.m. — Alley Project 4 to 5 p.m. — Garcia Dance Studio 6 p.m. — Opening ceremony 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. — Dogvane (hard, metal rock) 8 to 10 p.m. — Toxic Red (rock and roll) Thursday, June 27 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Matt Suarez (variety) 1:15 to 3:15 p.m. — Feel Good and Friends (soul and funk)
Len Wood, Staff
Shave ice from a vendor is shown during opening day of the Lompoc Flower Festival in 2018.
3:30 to 5:15 p.m. — Soul Cats (soul and variety) 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. — Unfinished Business (60s, 70s and 80s) 8 to 10 p.m. — Fossils (rock and roll) Len Wood, Staff
A motorcycle rider waits for the attraction to start during opening day of the Lompoc Flower Festival in 2018.
Friday, June 28 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. — Charlie Vaughn (variety) 1:45 to 3:45 p.m. — The Offsets (variety) 4 to 6 p.m. — All for Real (soul, funk) 6:15 to 7:45 p.m. — Hard Times (variety, Santana, classic rock) 8 to 10 p.m. — Molly Ringwald Project (80s) Saturday, June 29
Len Wood Staff
Pepperann Matchull, 3, rides the carousel with Faith Haynes in Ryon Park during the 2018 Lompoc Flower Festival.
Noon to 3:15 p.m. — Kaitlyn Chui (variety) 1 p.m. — Parade awards 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. — Off the One (reggae) 5:45 to 8 p.m. — Raw Silk (variety, funk, soul, rock)
Flower Festival, or to purchase pre-sale tickets and/or carnival ride wristbands, call the Lompoc Valley Festival Association at 805-735-8511, email office@ lompocvalleyfestivals.com, or visit https://www.lompocvalleyfestivals. com or https://www.facebook.com/ lompocvalley.flowerfestival.
Sunday, June 30 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. — Soul Fyah (soul and Latin) 1:45 to 3:45 p.m. — 805 Cali Tejano (old school, Latin) 3:50 p.m. — Queen ticket awards Len Wood Staff
Riders hang on to the Flying Dragon in Ryon Park during the 2018 Lompoc Flower Festival.
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4:30 to 6 p.m. — Latin Ladies-Adelaide (tribute of stars including Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Selena, Gloria Estefan, Celia Cruz)
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Lee Central Coast Newspapers | Sunday, June 23, 2019 | A3
Willis Jacobsoncovers the city of Lompoc for Lee Central Coast Newspapers. Follow him on Twitter @WJacobsonLR.
8:30 to 10 p.m. — Dog & Butterfly (Heart tribute band)
Lompoc Flower Festival parade to return June 29 with new drill teams
Willis Jacobson WJACOBSON@LE ECE NT R ALCOASTNEWS.COM
A4 | Sunday, June 23, 2019 | Lee Central Coast Newspapers
Although this year’s Lompoc Flower Festival parade is set to include fewer total floats than in years past, event organizers are anticipating an overall uptick in entertainment value for parade spectators. The annual Flower Festival parade will kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 29, at the corner of North H Street and College Avenue. The traveling spectacle will move south on H Street and then turn west on Ocean Avenue toward O Street, where it will end in front of Ryon Park, the home base for the festival. The theme for this year’s parade, as well as the festival overall, is “Summertime Fun & Friends.” Juan Esquivias, parade chair for the Lompoc Valley Festival Association, said he was expecting 50 to 60 entrants in the parade, but he noted that there would likely only be two or three floats due to scheduling conflicts with some of the event’s regular participants. Despite being what Esquivias described as “shorthanded in floats,” he said that organizers have booked four drill teams, which he said are usually the
“biggest hits” in each parade. “We’re excited about this year’s parade and introducing some of the new drill teams and drum squads,” Esquivias said. One of the new participants will be the San Bernardino Pacesetters Drill Team and Drum Squad. The 50-person Pacesetters team, comprised primarily of San Bernardino youth, has performed for more than 50 years at community events throughout the state and beyond. A parade awards ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. following the parade back at Ryon Park. That show will feature the Vandenberg Air Force Base honor guard, as well as a 21-gun salute and musical interlude from VAFB personnel. “That will be dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces and our fallen soldiers,” Esquivias said of the awards show. Rose Isaac, this year’s Flower Festival chair, said the parade awards event is among her favorites. “It’s a really nice ceremony,” she said. Esquivias said that Lompoc Valley Festival Association members are already working to increase the number of floats for the 2020 parade by simplifying the registration process. He
Len Wood Staff
The James Monroe Marching Band from North Hills performs during the 2018 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.
Come have some SUMMER FUN and GET YOUR GROOVE ON at the Lompoc Pops’ Flower Festival Kickoff Concert and final performance of their 2019-2020 Season…
SUMMER DISCO Meet the newly crowned 2019 Lompoc Valley Flower Festival Queen and her lovely Court
7:30 PM - MONDAY JUNE 24, 2016
First United Methodist Church • 925 North F Street
TICKETS $20 GENERAL ADMISSION
Students with ID $50 / Children 12 & under…FREE!
2019-2020 Season Dates… Mark your Calendar!
7:30 pm Monday, Sept. 16, 2019 • 7:00 pm, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019 7:30 pm Monday, March 30, 2020 • 7:30 pm Monday, June 22, 2020 Len Wood Staff
The Santa Maria Elks ride in the 2018 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.
MORE INFO: (805) 735-6463 / www.lompocpopsorchestra.org
Registration open for Lompoc Flower Festival Parade Route 1K/3K fun run/walk
Len Wood Staff
Garcia Dance Studio performers dance during the 2018 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.
pointed to one specific new entrant that could be a part of next year’s event. “We plan to get more floats and more participants from other areas in California,” he said. “And we’re currently working on trying to get the Marine Marching Band for next year.” He encouraged anyone interested in participating in this or next year’s parades to contact the Lompoc Valley Festival Association office at 805-7358511 or office@lompocvalleyfestivals. com. More information is also available at
Len Wood Staff
Lompoc Elks Lodge officers and a guest wave during the 2018 Lompoc Flower Festival parade.
https://www.lompocvalleyfestivals.com and https://www.facebook.com/lompocvalley.flowerfestival. Motorists on June 29 should prepare for road closures and detours along the parade route. Willis Jacobson covers the city of Lompoc for Lee Central Coast Newspapers. Follow him on Twitter @WJacobsonLR.
Staff Report For community members looking to work up a sweat before the start of this year’s Lompoc Flower Festival Parade, the Lompoc Valley Distance Club will again host a Parade Route 1K and 3K Run/Walk. The 1K Kids Run will start at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, June 29 — the same day as the parade, which will start at 10 a.m. — and the 3K Run/Walk will begin at 9 a.m. The start and finish will be in the Times Square Plaza parking lot at 511 North H St. Registration for the run/walk will begin at 7:30 a.m. The entry fee is $5 for the 1K Kids Run and $10 for the adult run/walk, with a $2 discount for Distance Club members. The event will include awards for top finishers in various age groups. The run/walk aims to raise research funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis, and 100% of the net income will be donated to a cystic fibrosis fund in honor of 14-year-old Lompoc resident Mallory Holloway, according to organizers. For more information or to volunteer for the races, contact A. Lee or Wayne Davis at 805-588-2934 or alhwed@
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Contributed photo
In this June 23, 2018, file photo, UC Riverside athlete and Lompoc High School graduate Isaac Acosta wins the Flower Festival Parade Route 3K run/ walk. This year’s event will be held Saturday, June 29.
msn.com. Registration forms can be found on the Lompoc Valley Distance Club’s website at http://members.impulse. net/~lvdc/.
Enjoy the 67th Flower Festival
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FROM THE VAULT Flower Festival is a Lompoc tradition Mike Chaldu
A6 | Sunday, June 23, 2019 | Lee Central Coast Newspapers
M C H ALDU @LE ECE NT RALCOASTNEWS.COM
It’s June in Lompoc: School’s just ended for the year, the weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer and the start of summer is just around the corner. In Lompoc, there’s one more thing for which this time of year is known: The Lompoc Valley Flower Festival. For five days in late June, local residents and many out-of-towners are drawn to the city’s Ryon Park to enjoy carnival rides, delicious eats from local organization’s food booths, a shopping bazaar, entertainment on the local stage, and of course the Saturday parade. While the Flower Festival officially didn’t become a reality until the early
1950s, the idea of an annual event was in the minds of city leaders wanting to capitalize on Lompoc’s standing as the Flower Seed Capital of the World and home to many beautiful flower fields, as evidenced in this 1930 story. Although Lompoc didn’t yet have a Flower Festival, per se, the town had another event everyone seemed to look forward to in the summer. Lompoc held an annual rodeo every year around the Fourth of July which proved to be a popular event for years. However, the idea of having an expanded community event for everyone to enjoy could stay dormant for only so long, and in 1954, the city’s Chamber of Commerce made plans to replace the rodeo with a new Flower Festival for the Fourth of July.
And that’s how it’s been in Lompoc ever since, albeit with a slight schedule change, from July 4 to what eventually became a five-day stretch in late June. As with any far-reaching community event, there are many traditions attached to the Flower Festival, and one of the earliest and most important is the Flower Festival Queen, who is crowned just before the Festival starts and represents the organization in charge of the event over the next year. No doubt many girls who grew up in Lompoc dreamed of wearing that crown during the Festival and for a select few, that dream came true. Among them were Stephanie Palagyi in 1987 and Lana Hayes in 2001 ... ... Miranda Rich in 2012, and last year’s winner Kaitlyn Chui. Of course, one of the things the Queen and her court get to do is ride on a float during the Flower Festival parade, like
this group in 2003. The parade goes down West Ocean Avenue toward Ryon Park, the center of all the fun, on the Saturday of the Festival. Many Lompoc residents have wonderful memories of participating in the Flower Festival parade. Many helped build, and rode on, the beautiful floats made of flowers (of course) and many with a particular theme, like the awardwinning float from 1978 celebrating Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in June? Well, yes in this case, as the floats that year were made up like different holidays, reflecting the Flower Festival theme that year. However, it’s not just floats that make the Flower Festival parades: There also have been other performers like clowns, dancers, horsemen and horsewomen, and the marching bands. Many have come from far off to perform in the parade, and of course the Lompoc and Cabrillo high school bands have participated every year. If fact, many times the two local high school bands have combined forces, along with many alumni, to form the Lompoc ‘Superband’ just for this occasion. And what’s a parade without a grand marshal? Many different kinds of folks have held that distinction, with many of them being outstanding local figures. However, the parade sometimes has been able to land a bona fide celebrity, like in 1989, when musician/actor Burl Ives did the honors. After the parade is done, it’s time to
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get back to Ryon Park, where all the action is. The youngsters, and even the young at heart, enjoy going right to the carnival area, where they can play midway games and go on the fun rides. And some of those rides have a story all their own, like this one in 2009 that previously spent time on Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. And when you’re done with the rides and have worked up an appetite, you can go to the many food booths at the park. Every year, several organizations serve
up grub to raise money, offering items like tacos, pizza, funnel cakes and whatever else sounds good. It’s like another attraction for the event, as explained in this Lompoc Record article in 1999. And then with food in hand, you can stroll over to Ryon Park’s main stage, where many local bands and performers get to show their stuff on stage; or in the case of this guitar-singer in 2014, share it up-close with the audience. So, whatever your taste, there’s a little something for everyone at Lompoc’s Flower Festival. This year’s festival takes place June 26-30, Wednesday through Sunday, with the parade happening Saturday, June 29, at 10 a.m. Have a great time!
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