What do you do on a beautiful October Saturday in San Benito County? Well, if you were lucky, you made it to the inaugural San Benito Olive Festival at the Paicines Ranch. The rugged hills of San Benito County dressed in their fall colors were a perfect backdrop for the gourmet celebration. To top it off, the weather was wonderful as well.
Over 2000 people attended the one-day feast of all things olive, from soaps and hand cream to olive tortillas and ice cream with olive oil on top. Along with the olive centric products, super foods were featured, most of which grow right here in San Benito County. The YMCA gave out information and super food recipes. Visitors wined and dined to the strains of live music from local groups like Mr. O’s Jazz Band. A cooking demo stage drew many guests with celebrity chefs like SakaBozzo. For those who missed the demos, Community Media Access Partnership (CMAP) from Gilroy recorded the lessons.
The Olive Festival was much more than a local event. Mary and Denise from B&R Farms asked many of their customers where they drove in from. “They came from San Francisco, Santa Rose, even Solvang.”
First year events can sometimes be rough around the edges, not so with the Olive Festival. This event appears to be praiseworthy from the start.