VENTURA, Calif. - TelAve -- Helen Reyes' winning artwork for the 39^th Annual California Strawberry Festival was revealed at an April 1 gathering of dignitaries and festival sponsors at Yolanda's Mexican Café in Oxnard. The luncheon officially kicks off activities for the 2025 festival celebration taking place May 17 and 18 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Reyes takes home a $2,000 grand prize and VIP tickets to the festival.

Entries were evaluated by a judging panel looking for creativity and the best use of a strawberry design. "Helen's artwork perfectly captures the vibe of the seaside festival," says Dean Kato, California Strawberry Festival board chair. "Her design will be on the festival poster, in our marketing campaign and on festival merchandise."

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Reyes, 27 and an Azusa resident, studied illustration at the Cal State University, Fullerton. "Since the festival is so close to the beach, I thought, wouldn't it be a cool idea to have a strawberry on a surfboard?'," says Reyes. She says it took about three weeks of sketching the design and choosing the right colors until it was complete.

This is the second time she entered the festival's art contest. She attended the festival for the first time last year. "I absolutely love strawberries, especially strawberry ice cream and strawberry shortcake," says Reyes, who has won art contests in high school and college. "I'm honored and grateful that the festival selected my design. I was in complete shock when I received the news."

Strawberry-themed nachos, chocolate-dipped strawberries, strawberry funnel cakes, strawberry kabobs, popcorn, and margaritas are just a few of the tasty choices available at the festival. Freshly picked, locally-grown strawberries are used by vendors in their foods.

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The festival also features 150 artists and crafters, a Strawberryland for kids, live entertainment on three stages, carnival rides, and a "build-your-own" strawberry shortcake experience.

Festival hours are 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. both days. General admission is $15, active military with ID and family and seniors 62 and over, $10, youth ages 5 to 12, $8, and children 4 and under are free.

Visitors are encouraged to use the free shuttle service (https://castrawberryfestival.org/getting-here/) at seven nearby locations. The Ventura Amtrak Station is across the street from the fairgrounds so visitors can ride Amtrak and MetroLink for easy access to the festival. For more information, go to www.CAStrawberryFestival.org.