Knotts Boysenberry Festival

Decor for the festival.

The Knott’s Boysenberry Festival is an annual event held at the Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park in Buena Park, California. The festival (obviously) celebrates the boysenberry: a unique fruit that was first cultivated by Walter Knott himself that is a cross between a raspberry, blackberry, dewberry, and loganberry. The festival typically features boysenberry themed decorations, including larger-than-life boysenberry displays, creating a vibrant and festive atmosphere.

(Pictured: Beverages from the Boysenberry festival.)

During the festival, visitors can indulge in a wide array of boysenberry-inspired treats, such as boysenberry baked goods, boysenberry ice cream products, and boysenberry-infused beverages. You are also paying for park entry, so you have access to all of the usual theme park rides as well (although I would probably ride roller coasters before all the food and drink, just saying.) It’s a fantastic opportunity for visitors to enjoy the delicious boysenberry flavors in unique dishes, while also enjoying the thrilling rides and attractions at Knott’s Berry Farm.

We tried many things throughout the day at Knott's Berry Farm. You will need to purchase tasting cards to redeem for items, or you can purchase the items outright.

(Pro Tip: I would get strategic about this. We noticed that a lot of the same items were at different booths and being priced differently. I am sure there is a logic for Knott's and the tasting card system, but if you are just purchasing items from the festival I would almost encourage you to check out each booth first to take a look at pricing. For certain items we wanted to try, it made more sense to pay for it than use one of our tastings as well. Be sure to consider this if you plan to visit!)

Let's begin with drinks that we tried during our time at the festival! From left to right:

• Boysenberry Margarita (7/10): This was a little on the sweet side, but still tasty.

• Boysenberry Mudslide (10/10): The boysenberry mudslide was my favorite thing I had at the festival. I could have used my whole tasting card on this one alone.

• Boysenberry IPA (7/10): I loved the deep purple color that this IPA had, however the taste was not as "boysenberry" as I would have hoped.

• Boysenberry Matcha Tea with Boysenberry Popping Boba (8/10): Note this was not offered via tasting card and was purchased at a separate booth. The boysenberry popping boba alone was worth the purchase, however.

• Boysenberry Mule (6/10): I love mules, but this was too sweet and not super memorable in any way.

(Pictured: Food items from the Boysenberry Festival.)

Now, to the main event - the food! From left to right:

• Chicken Wings with a Boysenberry Glaze (8/10): These were delicious, and made for a unique and sweet chicken wing experience. My sister added the ranch, but I think they were better without it.

• Sushi Burrito with Spicy Crab Surimi and Boysenberry Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce (4/10): I was pretty excited to try this one, however I found it pretty disappointing. The only enjoyable part was the dipping sauce, but Knott's has no business trying to make sushi.

• Beef Barbacoa over Mac & Cheese with a Boysenberry Chipotle Crema (7/10): This one was heavy, but really delicious. This was also one of the biggest portions of the day, so if you are trying to fill up or looking for a lot of food, I would highly recommend this one!

• Elote with a Boysenberry Butter, Boysenberry Mayo, and Cotija Cheese (6/10): This was another one I was super excited to try and disappointed by. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it wasn't too different from a classic elote. I was really hoping for more of a boysenberry "kick" on this one.

• Boysenberry Sausage on a Hoagie with Boysenberry Mustard (9/10): I was pleasantly surprised by this one. As far as food items that truly captured the boysenberry flavor, this one was it. It was incredibly sweet for a sausage, but incredibly tasty. The mustard on top also had a great boysenberry flavor, but it all fit together very well without being too much.

• Jambalaya with Boysenberry Sausage, Chicken, and Shrimp (5/10): This gets a 5/10 not because it didn't taste good. In fact, it was actually quite delicious. However, I really could not taste anything boysenberry in this dish. I believe the only part of the dish that did incorporate boysenberry was the sausage. This was a good serving and tasted good, but did not seem to fit in with the rest of the festival.

Boysenberry Dip N Dots

Purchases I made.

Boysenberry candy.

Boysenberry cookie and danish.

(Pictured: Sweet treats from the Boysenberry Festival.)

As far as desserts go, the boysenberry Dippin' Dots were a must-try.

(Pro Tip: There is a booth by the Accelerator roller coaster that sells Dippin' Dots in various sizes - not part of the tasting card system - when we went, they had not updated the pricing on the booth sign and had to honor it for us. I believe they were charging $10ish for a small, but the booth was advertising $8 for a regular size. The girl working said nobody ever notices it or points it out, but she honored it for us right away!)

There are several stores and booths selling various boysenberry products and merchandise as well. Although I could do without a boysenberry beanie, I still found myself making some purchases for some items to bring home. I really enjoyed the boysenberry cotton candy and jelly beans, but you need to be strategic about this too. They were charging in a candy store by pound, but selling the same beans in bags for way more. They also had a bakery with a handful of boysenberry baked good that were not included in the tastings, but they were very reasonably priced. I brought home a danish and cookie for around $3-$4 each, and they were both delicious.

Overall, the Knott's Boysenberry Festival is an experience that everyone needs to try at least once. The festival has something to offer for everyone in the family, and is a wonderful way to spend a day in Buena Park.