America’s 1st Theme Park Is Serving Over 100 Food Items at Next Festival
Knott’s Berry Farm’s annual Boysenberry Festival returns March 13 through April 12, 2026, with over 100 signature boysenberry-inspired menu offerings celebrating the little berry that started it all. The 31-day food festival has become one of Southern California’s premier theme park events, offering variety and value that rival those of Disney at EPCOT’s seasonal celebrations.
The festival format mirrors what Disney has perfected with EPCOT events, specialty food booths throughout the park. Here, they offer tasting cards for sampling multiple items at discounted prices, craft vendors, live entertainment, and educational programming. But Knott’s concentrates everything into one focused month, celebrating the park’s actual culinary heritage rather than spreading it across months like Disney’s extended festival timelines.
Over 100 Food and Drink Items
New savory offerings for 2026 include spicy boysenberry bulgogi over steamed rice topped with green onions and reuben balls with spicy boysenberry thousand island dressing. These items demonstrate Knott’s pushing boysenberry applications beyond just desserts into creative savory preparations.
New sweet treats include boysenberry and pineapple upside-down cake and boysenberry meringue tart. Beverages feature boysenberry paloma, boysenberry and kiwi lemonade, boysenberry tequila sunrise, wines, and craft beers available exclusively during the festival.
Tasting cards offering six tastings from boysenberry dishes and drinks provide the same value proposition Disney offers at EPCOT, allowing guests to experience variety without full-sized portions of everything. Cards are available at Knotts.com or at the park.
Theme Park Entertainment and Activities
New for 2026 is Boysen Bear’s Pie Kitchen Games in Calico Park, where guests help stop coyote pups Moxie and Brawny from stealing pies. After saving the day, guests can celebrate at Boysen Bear’s Pie Eating Contest on the Calico Mine Stage.
The newly renovated Birdcage Theatre presents The Great Bank Robbery, an interactive show encouraging audiences to cheer heroes and boo villains. This theatrical component adds live entertainment beyond just food sampling.
Knott’s Preserved returns, taking guests on a musical journey from Calico ghost town to the Seaside Boardwalk of the Roaring Twenties, commemorating park heritage through performance.
Old MacDonald’s Barn returns as tribute to an original farm attraction. Guests can enjoy horses, goats, and other animals, creating family programming that doesn’t require purchasing food.
Educational Components
The History of the Boysenberry Museum at Town Hall teaches guests about the berry’s impact on the Knott family and Southern California. Boysenberries were cultivated by Rudolph Boysen in the 1920s-1930s, and Walter Knott helped save the hybrid berry from extinction by planting it commercially.
The Knott family’s boysenberry pies and preserves became so popular that customer lines led Walter Knott to build attractions to entertain waiting guests, ultimately creating today’s theme park. That direct connection between the boysenberry and the park’s existence gives the festival authentic foundation.
Craft Fair and Art
The Boysenberry Festival Crafts Fair in Ghost Town streets features unique boysenberry-inspired artisan products from over two dozen local vendors. This component parallels Disney’s Festival of the Arts programming but compressed into one month.
The “Tied Up in Knott’s” art show returns to The Factory Store, featuring pieces by the Knott’s artist community celebrating all things boysenberry.
Theme Park Hotel Package
The Boysenberry Festival package at Knott’s Hotel bundles overnight accommodations, one day admission per person, one boysenberry tasting card valid for six items, one single-use Fast Lane per person, and hotel parking.
The Fast Lane inclusion adds value given festival weekends see increased crowds, making skip-the-line access worthwhile for families wanting both festival and regular attractions without excessive waiting.
Why It Works for the Theme Park
The 31-day timeline creates urgency that EPCOT’s 60-plus-day festivals sometimes lack. Focus on one signature ingredient gives coherent identity. Integration of heritage education connects food to actual park history rather than just revenue opportunity.
The sheer number of offerings—over 100 items—rivals Disney’s festivals while concentrated in a smaller footprint making experiencing multiple items in one visit more feasible.
Knott’s Boysenberry Festival runs daily March 13-April 12, 2026. For Southern California residents and tourists visiting during that window, the festival represents compelling reason to choose Knott’s Berry Farm. The boysenberry may be little, but its impact on creating one of the year’s best theme park food festivals is significant.
