The annual Pasadena Strawberry Festival is three big days of excitement and family fun, with the warm, country charm of the original Strawberry Festival. 2010 is the 37th Annual Celebration.

The theme of this year’s event is Peace, Love & Strawberries. In addition to the traditional festival attractions, guest will be able to participate in the Guitar Hero tournament presented by IGX interactive Game Experience. The children’s area will be hip and the decorations, crafts and entertainment will be colorful from the activity jumpers to the special games.

This award-winning event offers a wide variety of both indoor and outdoor activities, attractions and entertainment ranging from the “World’s Largest Strawberry Shortcake”, barbecue cookoffs and helicopter rides to continuous musical entertainment, children’s activities and the State Mud Volleyball Championship Tournament. With it’s thrilling carnival, shopping, fabulous variety of foods, animal shows, clowns, and specialty acts, the event provides a fun-fi lled weekend of activities for the whole family to enjoy.

In 1974 a small group of enthusiastic Pasadena citizens gathered in a tent on a football practice field for the opening of the Pasadena Historical Museum and celebrated San Jacinto Day with the very first Strawberry Festival. Strawberries, famous for their size and sweetness, were the first big business in Pasadena, Texas.   As many as twenty-eight train carloads of strawberries a day left Pasadena loading sheds going as far north as Chicago and Kansas City. These strawberries not only brought premium prices, but also earned Pasadena the coveted title “Strawberry Capitol of the South.”

Today, with over five hundred volunteers, the Pasadena Strawberry Festival continues to celebrate Pasadena’s heritage on the 106-acre Pasadena Convention Center and Municipal Fairgrounds complex and attracts over 50,000 visitors.

Our special live entertainment this year is the best ever, featuring local and regional groups all three days. Stop by the International Main Stage and have a listen! Look who’s playing at the festival this year!

Attractions:

Presenting the World’s Largest Strawberry Shortcake produced by H-E-B! A confection to do Texas proud! This cake, produced by HEB Foods officially made the Guinness book of World Record in 2005. It Was 1905 sf.ft., covered with more than a ton of strawberriers, glaze and whipped topping. The cake is reproduced each year, unveiled and cut during the festival’s opening ceremony on Friday at 5 PM. You’ve got to see it to believe it! Huge slices and sheet cakes are available for purchase!

Click here for a list of activities and events — fun for the whole family!  Helicopter rides will be available for $15 per person per ride. Yes, this is a REAL helicopter.

And don’t miss the Strawberry Festival Parade – Saturday, May 8th.  The parade will start at 10 A.M. at the corner of Spencer & Shaver proceed for one mile down Spencer to Burke, ending at the Memorial Stadium parking lot. Baby Float Parade – Saturday, May 1st, 1 PM at Pasadena Town Square Mall. Creatively decorated wagons and strollers carrying infants 3 months to 3 years, 4 years and older parade through the mall to promote the upcoming Strawberry Festival. Registrations on site, for more info call D’Juana Oxford 713-944-5933.

The 2010 Beauty Pageant will be held at the Texas Chiropractic College Auditorium, 5912 Spencer Hwy on April 10th and 11th. Doors open to the public at 6:00PM on Saturday and Sunday doors opens at 1:00PM to the public. Tickets will be sold at the door for $8 ages 12 & up, senior citizens 55 & older $5, and youth 5 -11 $5, and children under 5 free. No checks will be excepted. Your beauty pageant ticket will be honored at the Pasadena Strawberry Festival May 14-16th 2010 for a one day admission, So keep that Ticket and have a great time at the festival.

You, too, are invited to come enjoy three fun-filled days of activities, attractions and entertainment the whole family will enjoy.

The Pasadena Strawberry Festival serves as the annual fund-raising event for the San Jacinto Day Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profi t organization established in 1967 whose projects include providing college scholarships for area high school and college students; the preservation and promotion of Texas and Pasadena history; and fund raising efforts for local civic youth and other non-profit groups.