Vista Strawberry Festival

Downtown Vista, May 24th. Free admission. E Broadway and Indiana Avenue turns into something that only happens once a year and only happens here — a whole town not performing its festival, but actually having one.

The Strawberry Queen coronation is not ironic. The Strawberry Idol competition is not curated for an outside audience. The parade down Main Street draws people who've watched it for twenty years and people who moved here last spring and can't believe this is real. Vista does this with the confidence of a place that knows what it is and doesn't need validation. Food vendors line the blocks — strawberry shortcake in its honest form, the kind with the real biscuit, not the grocery-store shell. Local bands and school groups fill the entertainment stages not because a festival promoter booked them but because this is the town's stage. The kids are sticky-mouthed and running. The older couples have a usual spot. The weather in late May in Vista sits in the range where you don't think about weather at all, which is the best kind. No ticket needed. Bring a blanket if you want a parade spot. The strawberry lemonade is not optional.