Where have all the flowers gone?

Where have all the flowers gone?

Central Coast Farm & Ranch·Friday, June 7, 2019

Despite fewer fields, Lompoc fetes its bloomin’ glory days

BY MICHELE WILLER-ALLRED

Fields blanketed in blooms were plentiful when the Lompoc Valley Flower Festival was conceived in 1952, and they were beautiful to see.

“The flower fields were so colorful, and the fragrance was just magnificent. I guess you would say it was ‘scent-sational,’” said 85-year-old Mary Bernard, who grew up in Lompoc.While the acreage in bloom significantly dwindled, the festival celebrating them continues to grow. Now in its 67th year, the Lompoc Valley Flower Festival offers locals and visitors alike a chance to have fun while learning about the area’s blooming past.The event, organized by the Lompoc Valley Festival Association and sponsored by the city of Lompoc, runs Wednesday through Sunday, June 26 to 30.It features a parade on Saturday, June 29, with floats constructed of petals or natural matter, most of which are grown in the Lompoc Valley. A flower-festooned carnival, running all five days of the fest, features rides, entertainment, arts and crafts and vendors.The festival didn’t start out celebrating flowers but was actually a rodeo, according to a 1952 report in the Lompoc Record.That is, until local resident George Miller convinced the Chamber of Commerce to change the theme to celebrate Lompoc’s “world famous flower fields, an asset that was unique and the perfect basis for the community event.”The festival also was developed around Lompoc’s Alpha Club’s annual flower show, which had its beginnings in 1922. Bernard remembers the festival as a big deal for the community and a way for neighbors to “come together, even if only for once a year to celebrate the beautiful flowers.”