You feel a small breeze as the sun shines. You look around and all you see is yellow. You see food stands with lemon-flavored this and clothing shops with lemon-styled that. You see kids and teens jumping, climbing, running and sliding. And best of all, you are drinking a nice, cool, refreshing cup of lemonade. Santa Barbara is celebrating its annual Lemon Festival at Girsh Park at the end of September. Whether you are in the mood for lemon tarts or looking for lemon earrings, the Lemon Festival will meet all your lemon needs and more.

The Lemon Festival has been happening ever since 1949. Every year there is so much to look forward to. This year, the music varied in different genres, including rock, country, R&B, etc. The band, Area 51, was performing on the stage as well. There were many fun games such as rock-climbing, race cars, and bouncy houses. The food stands had a lot to offer as well. There was pizza, strawberry lemonade, strawberry tamales, potato tornados, lemon-flavored cotton candy, and more. There were a lot of small businesses offering various things such as lovely kimonos, uniquely scented candles, beautiful henna tattoos, stylish dresses and adorable earrings.

“[The Lemon Festival] gives so many small businesses the opportunity to be in the public eye,” said owner of the Henna Me Beautiful booth, Afshan Khan. “It gives businesses the opportunity to be in a physical space and spread awareness of their brand.”

What is ironic about this event is that you can find everything lemon flavored and lemon styled, but you could not find a single stand that actually sold lemons alone. Overall, the Lemon Festival has something for people of all ages and lovers of all things lemon. From entertainment to games to food, there is lemon-flavored fun for everyone.