West Oaks Strawberry Festival - Winchester, VA
The West Oaks Farm Market in Winchester, VA hosts an annual Strawberry Festival in the spring. This year I went to check it out. It is free to attend the strawberry festival and hang out or listen to the live music. You do have to pay for food, activities, and strawberry picking.
Quality of Entertainment
The West Oaks Strawberry Festival showcases a large pick-your-own strawberry event. It is at the peak of strawberry season for them. It costs $3.99/lb to pick strawberries. They give you a card board tray to pick with or you can bring your own container. We picked strawberries and had a nice time walking through the scenic strawberry fields picking berries. The berries tasted great too!
Also, there were many other activities available: hay rides, live music, children’s play areas, axe throwing, and a mechanical bull. Additionally, there were food trucks, bars, a beer and wine tasting, and a deli available. There was something for everyone to enjoy. The live music was nice covers of popular oldies hits but nothing mind blowing. It was good background music while eating and chatting.
Who Goes Here?
Primarily families with young children were there. There was a smattering of couples as well.
Venue
West Oaks is a very nice, spacious, newer establishment. It is one of the largest and well-established farmers markets I have ever seen. They are surrounded by beautiful farmland and orchards. This makes a great backdrop to the outdoor patio seating and live music. During the strawberry festival it is quite busy and a little congested but we could still find seating relatively easily. It was a lively and fun atmosphere that encouraged an appreciation of the outdoor scenery and the farm.
Organization & Cleanliness
West Oaks is very large and spacious with ample seating. It is very clean and well maintained. They also have plenty of very nice restrooms inside and provided additional portable bathrooms outside for the festival. It was well organized with plenty of staff and trash cans available. You can tell they have done this before and have it down to a science.
Refreshments
There were many delicious refreshments available. There were about five food trucks available with various foods and treats. There was a BBQ dinner stand set up in the main dining area. Additionally, inside the main market building there was a deli where you could order meals as well as ice cream and baked goods. Because of the strawberry festival there were special strawberry themed foods available. We ordered the daily special which included BBQ, wonderful mac and cheese, a strawberry coleslaw, corn bread with strawberry butter, and strawberry fruit salad cup. We also got a strawberry doughnut and a side of fries. I really enjoyed the BBQ bowl. The doughnut was too sweet for me and not strawberry enough (it looked better than it tasted). Overall, it was a TON of food for the price and our meals were delicious! I was impressed.
There were several bars set up throughout the event indoors and outdoors offering local and strawberry themed drinks. Also, there was also a wine and beer tasting in the event building. It was only $5 to try all sorts of local beer, wines, ciders, and canned cocktails. It was a great way to try out some of the local offerings and it was a great deal for the price.
Location
West Oaks Farm Market is located just outside of Winchester, VA. It is a scenic agricultural area. There is ample parking available.
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Summary
Overall, the West Oaks Strawberry Festival is a great local event at a farmers market in Winchester, VA. It is packed with fun activities and delicious refreshments for good prices. It is particularly popular with families with little children, but it could be fun for anyone! It is crowded during the festival though, so it could be overwhelming for some. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun spring outing. The farmers market would be great to visit outside of the festival as well. It is very nice and well run with beautiful scenery.
