Knott's Taste of Boysenberry Festival 2021: General Review

Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA

Like a mammal coming out of winter hibernation, so to do we stir from our quiet slumber since Christmas time (or really, Halloween season), pawing out of our dens to glimpse the oncoming glint of spring. It’s a time of rebirth, a time of renewal, and at Westcoaster, a time for our first true update in a few months.

Yes, it’s been a spell. When a pandemic spikes during the holiday season, shutting down events left and right, and you’re also busy on top of that, it makes for a recipe of no updates. But now, as we roll into one year of life staying mostly at home due to the Coronavirus, there are signs of life… a light at the end of the tunnel. With virus cases way down aftehr the holiday surge (almost as though it spreads less when people don’t gather indoors in widespread numbers!), our local theme parks are starting to open up again. And even before last week’s State of California update of Coronavirus guidelines that opened up a path to regular theme park opening, many of the local parks had already announced springtime food festivals to tide operations and bring back a little bit of activity within the gates.

Welcome back to Knott’s Berry Farm after a few months’ hiatus!

Kicking it off was the park that started the whole trend last summer, Knott’s Berry Farm, with their latest “Taste Of” event, the Taste of Boysenberry Festival. This event—essentially almost the full, regular Boysenberry Festival minus the rides—celebrates the little berry that started it all for Walter and Cordelia Knott. The boysenberry—a mix of blackberry, raspberry, and loganberry—helped bring recognition to a little roadside berry stand over one hundred years ago. That little stand slowly became a chicken dinner restaurant, then a marketplace, then a ghost town, and eventually, a historically themed amusement park that has become a Southern California icon.

It’s the Taste of Boysenberry Festival tasting card and a virtual Easter egg hunt (more on that later).

The Taste of Boysenberry Festival highlights the boysenberry by using it as an ingredient one way or another in dozens of specialty gourmet offerings featured at stands and restaurants throughout the park. This year’s event is especially poignant, because the regular Boysenberry Festival was the first casualty of last year’s Coronavirus Stay At Home restrictions—shuttered when Knott’s had to close before the event run could even begin. To be able to have the park back open on a reduced capacity harkens a new chapter in the past year’s abnormal—one that points us back toward the life we were previously used to.

The front has once again been beautiful decorated with seasonal furnishings. The giant boysenberry topiary on the left is absolutely adorable.

The Taste of Boysenberry Festival follows the same successful formula that Knott’s has employed and expanded upon with the Taste of Calico, Taste of Knott’s, Taste of Fall-O-Ween, and Taste of Merry Farm. The entire extent of the park is open to guests, with food venues scattered throughout Ghost Town, The Boardwalk, Fiesta Village, and Camp Snoopy. A rich springtime ambiance fills the atmosphere with plenty of flowers, blooms, and Easter-themed decorations—depending on the part of the park.

Farm fresh florals are everywhere throughout Ghost Town and beyond.

A few familiar faces in Calico greet guests from the second story porches around Ghost Town. Fans of the Peanuts can meet their favorite characters in Camp Snoopy (including the beloved Easter Beagle!). And there is a nice assortment of unscheduled show entertainment to tide guests over in between the delicious fooding.

Recognizable characters in Calico, like Deputy Mayor Milton C. Howell, can be spotted on the elevated porches in Ghost Town.

In Camp Snoopy, families can meet the lovable Easter Beagle!

We hit up the event last Saturday to see how Knott’s was doing after its last event—the Taste of Merry Farm—was prematurely shut down during the terrible holiday COVID surge. We found a pretty bustling environment with a few more longer lines than our previous visits and plenty of people happy to be back in a theme park surrounding.

There were long lines for food early on during Saturday.

Guests generally seemed to be socially distancing, although not as consistently in the longer lines.

Healthy safety protocols were still in effect—meaning temperature screenings prior to park entry, masks required at all times except for when eating or drinking at tables (no consumption on the move, folks!), social distance reminders, plenty of hand sanitizer stations, and a very visible cleaning presence. Although it was definitely a busy day, it didn’t seem any more crowded than previous visits, suggesting that the capacity limits in place during the Taste of Merry Farm were maintained for the Taste of Boysenberry Festival. Although this may still be too bountiful for some people, we were able to avoid crowds as we navigated the park. And we definitely appreciated the park staff reminding people of the rules or patrolling to encourage guests to adhere to the COVID guidelines.

Knott’s has found creative ways to set up socially distanced tables and has patrolled them regularly with cleaning staff.

Food-wise, our five item tickets were sufficient for two meals, giving us a full day visit. We sampled a wide variety of good eats, sweets, and drinks, and we came away pretty darn satisfied with just about every choice we made. The consistency of quality has definitely improved each time that Knott’s has done this event, and this was no exception.

Our favorites this time around:

Boysenberry Brisket Tater Tots topped with Crispy Jalapeno Chips and a Boysenberry Aioli Sauce (Knott’s has continuously hit it out of the park with their loaded tater tots selection)
Boysenberry BBQ Brisket Mac and Cheese (we haven’t been a fan of Knott’s mac ‘n’ cheese offerings previously, but the tender, delicious, hearty helping of brisket provided a great balance to the somewhat bland though very creamy macaraoni)
Boysenberry BBQ Meatloaf with Scalloped Potatoes (more salisbury steak than meatloaf, but a surprisingly large portion offered, and still tasty!)
Boysenberry Balsamic Brussel Sprouts
Etouffee, Shrimp, and Boysenberry Sausage over Rice with Naan Bread (carb-heavy but surprisingly flavorful and with more shrimp than expected)
Frosty Boysenberry Mai Tai (basically a lightly alcoholic boysenberry slushie)
Boysenberry Pie Slice with Whipped Cream (the first time Knott’s has just offered plain boysenberry pie at one of their events that we can recall—at least in recent memory—but we don’t understand why they don’t always do it, because the pie was fantastic)

Boysenberry Brisket Tater Tots topped with Crispy Jalapeno Chips and a Boysenberry Aioli Sauce

Boysenberry BBQ Meatloaf with Scalloped Potatoes, Boysenberry Brussel Sprouts, and Boysenberry Chicken Wings

Etouffee, Shrimp, and Boysenberry Sausage over Rice with Naan Bread

Boysenberry Pie Slice with Whipped Cream

And that doesn’t take into account returning favorites that we know have been good every previous time we’ve had them, such as the Apple and Chicken Sausage with Boysenberry Mustard on a Boysenberry Bun, Boysenberry BBQ Glazed Wings (as long as they haven’t been sitting out), Boysenberry and Basil Lemonade, Funnel Fries with a Boysenberry and Chocolate Dipping Sauce, ICEE Float with Vanilla Soft Serve (this time with Boysenberry ICEE!), and Fun Bun (be prepared for diabetes).

Another food item of note—new this year was Boysenberry Dippin’ Dots! Yes, the ice cream of the future has finally merged with a traditionally iconic fruit, and the result is a creamy confection that has a tart feel to it, somewhat like grape medicine—which is either a good thing if you loved Dimetapp or not so great if you hated it as a child.

The Boysenberry / iconic dessert tie-in this year involves Dippin’ Dots. Celebrate the Festival and get the latest scoop on the next new ride—all at the same time!

Aside from the food, the Taste of Boysenberry Festival also returns a crafts village assortment of local vendors and boutique stands selling a variety of souvenirs and mementos. Located mostly in Ghost Town, with a few spots in Fiesta Village, these commercial stalls feature plenty of homemade gifts and goods. Of course, the regular permanent park shops are open too, selling a wide variety of Boysenberry Festival memorabilia. And if you really want to take home a bit of Knott’s, a stand right out in front between the Wagon Camp and the cave entrance to Ghostrider offers actual boysenberry plants for sale to take home. A pot is only $19.95 plus tax, and guests can order in the middle of the day and pick up at the end of it. it’s pretty neat for those with green thumbs!

Little boutique stands are scattered throughout Ghost Town.

This stand near the front of the park offers boysenberry plants.

Get your very own, straight from Knotts!

On the entertainment front, the return of Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies—live—was a thrill to many fans. The goofy country bluegrass gang had previously recorded live concerts played on the big screen at the Calico Mine Stage during past Taste Of events, but this was the first time they had appeared in person since the pandemic began. Pulling out all of their showmanship and quirky antics, they certainly put on an entertaining show, and with several performances in the afternoon and evening, there are plenty of chances to catch them.

Krazy Kirk and the Hilbillies (formerly Benny Hill and the Hillbillies at Disneyland) entertain the masses at the Calico Mine Stage.

Around the corner on The Boardwalk, KNOT Radio also made a welcome return. Fast-talking deejays Shelly Jelly Jamson and Barry Farmer delivered a rollicking series of punchlines and serial radiodrama with puns galore. Among our favorites: “She arrives from a strange land and KILLS the first person she meets! Then she teams up with three strangers to KILL again! Catch… The Wizard of Oz!” And before guests had time to process that joke, it was onto a new segment with more rapid fire witticism, impressions, and slapstick.

KNOT Radio has a classic, mid-century radio vibe and plenty of sass and cleverness.

At the Calico Park Stage, Hayden Allcorn presented another showing of his illusions as magic, this time under the guise of a traveling salesman promoting Mother Murphy’s Magical Boysenberry Elixir. In character and fully committed to the premise, he mixed in swift tricks with typical self-effacing humor to exhibit an entertaining brand of close-up style magic—or as close-up as social distancing guidelines would allow!

Mother Murphy’s Elixir is practically magical!

Guests who wanted to participate in something interactive could also try a virtual easter egg hunt. Scanning a QR code on a card included with the Tasting Pass revealed the first clue on one’s smart phone, which offered a hint to the location of an egg that Eggbert the bunny had left behind somewhere in the park. Covering many of the park’s beloved locations, with a few child-friendly puzzles that encouraged curiosity and elementary problem solving, this hunt took guests throughout the park and ultimately culminated in a meeting with the Easter Bunny himself—plus a commemorative pin for those who completed the challenge. What a fun way for Knott’s to provide a Coronavirus-appropriate way of maintaining a springtime tradition!

Beyond all of that, it was just nice to enjoy the theme park atmosphere. It’s only been a few months since the park was open, but between the holiday surge, the commencement of vaccines, and the still-present threat of new Coronavirus variants, it feels like a lot has happened in the relatively limited amount of time. And the bit of normalcy afforded by simply being able to stroll through Calico or enjoy the sights of the Boardwalk or the vibe of Fiesta Village or the charm of Camp Snoopy provided a welcome break to an audience that has had to bear through the attrition of pandemic life.

Looking out over the Boardwalk… and the Bear-y Tales 4D: Return to the Fair attraction that still has yet to open due to the Coronavirus restrictions.

Camp Snoopy has a ton of Easter-related decorations—all very kitschy and kid-centric.

Aside from the high crowds and longer lines during the early-through mid-afternoon hours, we didn’t really experience any issues at the event, which is a testament to Knott’s streamlined and continually improving operations to balance a sense of enjoyment with the obligation for safety. And although it might be understandable to balk at the price tag—another $5 increase from the last event to $45 per adult tasting pass (children’s passes remain at $20)—while pointing out that the Taste of Boysenberry Festival lacks the extra holiday-related perks and attractions of the Taste of Fall-O-Ween and Taste of Merry Farm, if we’ve seen from the pricing of competing food festivals, the price point is actually an amount that settles into the competitive market value. Arguably, the earlier entry prices were actually undervalued deals. Compared to A Touch of Disney’s $75 admission, which comes with a $25 food gift card that will effectively only be worth three tastings instead of five, Knott’s offering is a pretty fair alternative. And Knott’s has countless food options that encourage repeat visits for boysenberry foodies who want to try out more.

Fiesta Village has an arrangement of lavender umbrellas strung overhead.

Ghost Town is charming throughout, as usual.

All in all, we had yet another enjoyable experience at the latest Taste Of… Knott’s event. There’s come to be a sort of nostalgic comfort and familiarity to these seasonal food festivals, and they’ve been quite popular and sucessful with the general public. Seeing the park again and familiar faces and settings lends a reassuring feel that things are still okay, even when the rest of the world can sometimes feel very much not so. The folks at the Berry Farm have demonstrated a thoughtful, guest-centric experience set in as safe of an environment as can be reasonably managed in a large capacity venue, and we really appreciate what the Taste of Boysenberry Festival and other previous events have brought—not only to Knott’s but as a trend to the Southern California region in general!

Charlie Brown keeps trying to catch a fish and keeps landing an egg.

The Taste of Boysenberry Festival runs Fridays through Sundays from now through May 2nd. Hours are noon to 9:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 8:00pm on Sundays. Tickets are available only online and must be purchased in advance. There is no admission sold on site. Parking is free and is located off the Grand Avenue, west of Beach Blvd.

As we’ve said the past several times, this is a great event for those who are comfortable enough going. For those who are not and will continue to be patient until full reopening, passing is totally fine too. But if you are interested and do plan to attend, please be kind, courteous, and follow all health safety guidelines. This should be a fun and merry experience, and it takes all of us to keep it that way!