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Ready for Texas' Juiciest Event? The Poteet Strawberry Festival Is Around the Corner

This year's Poteet Strawberry Festival is back and Texans can't wait to gobble down some strawberry pie and slather strawberry jam on their biscuits. The Poteet Strawberry Festival Association is excited to announce the South of San Antonio festival is back this year on April 22, 23, and 24.

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The festival, which takes place in the "Strawberry Capital of Texas," draws more than 100,000 participants over three days, and people come just as much for the live music, great food, carnival rides and games, and rodeo performances as for the delicious strawberries.

This legendary strawberry festival began back in 1948 as a way to incentivize World War II veterans to come back to the farms. Along with this, the festival was made to promote Poteet's strawberries and provide scholarships to the youth of Poteet. 75 years later, the festival has continued to grow and is now a popular tourism attraction, ideal for all who love strawberries and "homegrown fun."
This exciting event attracts people from all over Texas and the United States, and over 100 groups from South Texas are involved. It involves rides, a parade, a strawberry auction, and so much more. If this inspires you to grow your own strawberries, here are some seeds to start with.

Grow Your Own Strawberries! 

The Poteet Strawberry festival usually brings in an estimated $10 million dollars a year to the community.

"All of the food vendors inside the grounds are local people and they're all non-profit and a lot of them depend on the strawberry festival for their income for the year to help their communities," Mayor Leal said.

This year, the annual festival features musical performances by the David Farias Band, Ram Herrera, Jay Perez, Kevin Fowler and Shane Smith & the Saints and more.

Tickets are available for purchase in advance on the festival's website (ticket prices are $15 per ticket) or you can buy tickets each day at the gate ($20 per ticket). Each ticket is good for one day only. Children under 12 are free. There is also free admission for military personnel with valid I.D.

Friday is @Kens5 Night which includes $1 carnival rides; the festival opens at 6 p.m. and closes at midnight. Saturday is H-E-B Family Day with hours from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday is #SundayFunday with hours from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. 

Fancy a ride on the tilt-a-whirl? Purchase a carnival wristband for $35 per person for unlimited rides, valid all day.

Each year, proceeds from the festival go to support about 30 scholarships for local students pursuing higher education.

The address for the 71st annual Poteet Strawberry Festival is 9199 N State Hwy 16 in Poteet. For more information on the festival's schedule, visit their website at http://strawberryfestival.com/ or their Facebook page.

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This post was originally published on March 9, 2021.

READ MORE: When Is Strawberry Season?