Avocado Tchotchkes

“Can you believe this? Everything is gone!

It was 7:00 p.m., we were headed home after sampling the 29th Annual Fallbrook, California, Avocado Festival. As if by magic all traces of frantic activity had disappeared when we left that evening, including the traffic.

Only a few hours before a nine-block section of Main Street was closed to vehicles and converted to - avocado nirvana? If you’ve never visited the village of Fallbrook, it is an unincorporated community in northern San Diego County of about 30,500 residents. This quiet community is known for it’s avocado groves and claims the title “Avocado Capital of the World.”

Before leaving for the festival that morning all our friends could talk about was the grandeur of avocados; an art contest, a children's avocado race, and so much more. We glanced at the local newspaper. “Unbelievable - this festival draws anywhere from 70,000 to 100,000 people. Where in the world will all these people park?”

We threw a few bottles of water in a backpack and made our way downtown. There must have been over 250 tchotchke vendors selling everything from slingshots to Direct TV subscriptions. And throngs of people six deep as far as you could see. Where was the the Art of the Avocado Contest, the Best Decorated Avocado, for that matter we could not even find the guacamole contest?

“This street is packed. How many days did it take to set all this up?” I practically yelled to our host over the roar of the crowd.

“I was downtown last night, none of this was here,” he admitted.

Finally we stumbled upon one of the Holy Guaca-Moly booths and got a free sample. “Yep, this tastes great “- but what’s the big deal, I thought. Well, it turns out avocados are a very healthy food source. Some benefits include; promote heart health, provide anti-inflammatory benefits, they support cardiovascular health, promote blood sugar regulators, and claim anti cancer benefits. Wow, one of natures magic foods. So where are all the avocados?

Finally after wandering the street we stopped into the chamber of commerce office and asked, “We’re looking for the Avo 500 children’s car race can you point us in that direction, please?”

As an avid soapbox derby racer in my youth, I’ll admit I was drawn to the Avo 500. Contestants did not bring their racing machine to the event, they selected an avocado and built them on the spot. Or should I say, their parents built them as they entered their names in the contest, shhhh? Oh well, it was fun to watch the colorfully decorated and carved avocados with plastic wheels slide, roll, tumble, and flip down the raceway. One kid even entered a pit. No it wasn’t a pit stop, but a completely stripped avocado. The race official chirped, “We definitely need to change the rules for next year.”

The winner turns out is the village of Fallbrook. According to the chamber of commerce, the Avocado Festival costs about $70,000 to put on, but generates more than $1 million in revenues for merchants.

My friend James introduced me to one of the locals, Rick Hill, owner of Retro Candy and Toys in the heart of downtown. Exploring his store was like stepping back in time. Open baskets of Saltwater Taffy, Redhots, Bitta Honey, Jawbreakers, Wax Lips, even Daisy BBs. I wouldn’t recommend eating the BBs.

Coincidently while researching this piece I found a quote from Rick in The San Diego Union Tribune, “We do about three weeks’ worth of business in one day,” Hill said. “It’s nonstop.” The shop sells all sorts of sweets and toys, “but avocado fudge is by far the biggest seller.”

In all the hubbub we never did find the avo fudge. Tchotchke collectors mark your calendar, next years event is scheduled for late April. Oh, if you’re looking for avocados all the local markets sell them in season, everyone grows avocado trees in their yards, and you can have them shipped to you from Avocados Direct.

I’m still shaking my head, sadly what the event has become is a tchotchke survivalist festival hiding behind natures magic treat - the avocado.

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