Knott’s Berry Farm’s annual Taste of Boysenberry Festival has finally arrived! From March 5th to May 2nd, food lovers and Knott’s Berry Farm fans can roam around the entire theme park and experience the sweet and savory treats that are flavored by the famous boysenberry. 

In honor of Walter Knott’s friend, Charles Rudolph Boysen (the man who successfully produced the fruit from a blackberry, raspberry, and loganberry), Knott’s Berry Farm’s Culinary Team comes together each year to make up of eighty new dishes that incorporate the boysenberry. If it weren’t for this special fruit, Knott’s Berry Farm would have never been as prosperous as it is today.

It’s not too late to reserve a day to attend this yearly festival. You can participate in Knott’s Berry Farm’s food festival by going onto their website and selecting a day you would like to visit the park. Don’t forget to also purchase a tasting card in advance which is required for you to enter the park. Regular tasting cards for those who are twelve years old or older are forty-five dollars. This card allows one person five dishes without additional payments. Junior tasting cards, for those who are eleven years old or younger, are twenty dollars. These cards allow three meals without added payments.

“After attending Knott’s Taste of Boysenberry Festival,” shares Kyndal Prahl (12), “I’m sad that I will probably never again be able to taste the amazing flavors from some of my favorite boysenberry-incorporated foods.” 

As soon as I entered the park, I began my food-eating escapade at the Ghost Town. There, I decided to try the apple and chicken sausage with boysenberry mustard on a boysenberry bun. Overall, the flavor was amazing and this meal was a great start to the tasting. The boysenberry mustard was the perfect mix of sweet at savory. Unfortunately, I couldn’t taste much of the boysenberry within the bun, but it was still delicious.

Then, I decided to wash everything down with the boysenberry, cucumber, and pineapple Aqua Fresca. If you like sweet beverages, this is the drink for you. As soon as you take the first sip, your mouth is hit with a sugary bomb. As I said, this is definitely a beverage anyone with a sweet tooth would enjoy. Personally, I would have preferred the drink to be a little less sweet, but I was not opposed to having this drink on me while I was wandering through the park under the scorching sun.

After roaming around and playing some of the exciting carnival games Knott’s had throughout the park, I made my way to the Boardwalk and ordered the veggie sliders on a pretzel bun with spinach and boysenberry aioli. This was another one of my favorites. Like any veggie burger, the patty was incredibly appetizing, and the pretzel bun tasted amazing! Ultimately, the spinach and boysenberry aioli sauce is what made the burger so enticing. 

Afterward, I snacked on mac and cheese bites over fries with a boysenberry sriracha ketchup. The fries and mac and cheese bites were mediocre. However, the special boysenberry sauce was definitely one of the best sauces I have ever had. Although I was very hesitant to try the mixture at first, I am glad I ignored my instincts. It was a perfect ratio of sweetness, saltiness, and spice, I wish they gave me more of it. 

As I walked off all of the delicious foods I had already eaten, I decided it was time to treat myself. For dessert, I had the boysenberry lemon and almond loaf and the boysenberry ICEE float with vanilla soft serve. Both the loaf and the ICEE were delightful! You could really taste the boysenberry within the bread, and the lemon was not overpowering in flavor. (The loaf was actually so good, I purchased a few more to bring home with me.) The ICEE did a great job of cooling me down and satisfying my taste buds at the same time. I would recommend you allow the ICEE and vanilla soft serve to melt a little bit and mix together, in order to get the taste from each in one sip.

At the end of the day, I left the theme park feeling full and satisfied. I was glad to have been able to experience the fun and food that Knott’s Berry Farm’s Taste of Boysenberry Festival had to offer. If you’re looking for something to do over the weekend, consider visiting Knott’s Berry Farm and tasting the various boysenberry treats and meals. But if you can’t make it this weekend, there’s always next year!