37th Annual Avocado Festival Honors Mac Brown

The preparations for the 37th Annual Avocado Festival in Carpinteria were going as planned, when unexpected news came to the board that their dear colleague, avocado grower, and longtime festival foundation supporter Mac Brown had passed away on October 5. Avo Fest Co-President and the Director of Productions & Operations Mike Lazaro shared with me:

“We are all going to miss him. He helped everyone in town and gave people jobs. I met him working the Avo Fest years ago, we all recall when he filled the Seal Fountain on Linden with beer! Mac Brown was a mentor, a role model, and a freaking cowboy. He was the John Wayne of Carpinteria. We all looked up to him. His generosity was endless, and he is one of the reasons the Avocado Festival is still here today! His daughter Melissa Brown serves as vice president on our board. I will miss my dear friend. We are dedicating this year’s Avo Fest to him.”

At the locals’ opening on Friday, October 6, in memoriams were given by festival Co-President Gary Dobbins, Carpinteria City Council Member Wade T. Nomura, and a tribute by close family friend Nikki Puentes – “Everyone loved him from the first moment they met him, he was a hard worker and loved it; he was a happy avocado grower and helped many people in the town. He loved Coors Light, so let’s raise one in a toast to him,” and with that she poured a Coors Light on the Seal Fountain stage area where he is most fondly remembered.

The grand opening program emcee was John Palminteri, who introduced the speakers: City of Carpinteria Mayor Al Clark, Nomura, andAssemblymember Gregg Hart, along with Proclamations of Recognition presented by Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24), and SBC District Supervisor Das Williams. 

Honorary chairs Kathy and Andy Sheaffer, avocado growers in Carpinteria since 2008, were tasked with the tradition of placing an avocado on the nose of the Seal Statue in the fountain. If the avo took hold, the festival is said to officially begin. It took two tries, but they were triumphant and stoked.

Key highlights of the festival this year in addition to all versions of avo were the Carp firefighters’ faux burning house for kids to put out with water balloons and rescue a toy teddy bear inside, nonprofit booths, three rotary clubs, and the 60 bands representing all music genres – Irish Beau James WildingTrio, reggae bands like Skamakazie!, Ojai’s Sophie Holt, classic rock from The Rincons, Echoswitch, country by Nate Creager, Dusty Jugz, Trent Summar, and Caught Red Handed, local favorites Cecilia James, Jackson Gillies, The Cate School Rock Band All Stars, and Bobby, Finn,and Dave (TheTearaways). 

Big applause to the behind-the-scenes crew that worked it: the Carpinteria-Summerland fire departments; the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department; Seal Stage Managers Nate Latta with “K-Money”;Main Stage managers Trevor “4-Ever” Smith with Johnny Ornelas;Grotto Stage Managers Mark Brickley with “The Rock from New Orleans”; the merch booth manager Angie Torres with Bruce Friesen, Daiquiri Beebe, and Carrie Wanek; and the Avocado Festival Board: Treasurer Emily Miles, Secretary Andrea Lionello, Jeff Theimer, Manager of Volunteers Traci Collins,and Operations Assistant Olivia Sorgman. 

411: www.avofest.org