Started in 1958, The Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce put on the first Garden Grove Strawberry Festival as a way to bring together the east and west sides of Garden Grove. Resident Tom Hoxie, a public relations professional, suggested a festival to celebrate the area’s then prolific strawberry fields. That first festival was held on a vacant lot in the Brookhurst Triangle, an area bordered by Garden Grove Blvd., Brookhurst St., and Brookhurst Way. To read more about the history of the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival, click here.
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1959 2nd annual cake with Festival royalty
1968 Festival board w Wallin & Singer
1966 Tournament of Drums program Bolsa Grande HS
1966 – Festival yearbook cover
1963 Helicopter rides
Jack Wallen, a festival board member since 1958, has collected these festival commemorative pins.
1963 Bolsa Grande HS float
1963 – Cake being served in Showmobile
1963 – car in parade
1963 – Cake Cutting w Miss GG
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1968 – Connie Haines, Grand Marshal
1963 – Festival grounds
1963 – Festival grounds
1963 – Rotary Booth
Robert Kennedy visits Garden Grove Strawberry Festival
1963 – Strawberry Shippers
Festival grounds in 1960s