Festival Info

For over 76 years, serving our community has been what drives the countless volunteer hours and hard work that go into the Poteet Strawberry Festival. It has been a crucial source of funding for scholarships, farmers, non-profits, and small businesses.

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW DO I EXHIBIT AT THE STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL?

Applications are posted on our website starting in December. In our effort to Go Green, all applications can be submitted online. Or, if you prefer, you can print them and mail them to us.

HOW DID THE POTEET STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL BEGIN?

It began in 1948 when the Poteet Rotary Club organized the first event in an effort to provide returning Word War 11 veterans an incentive to return to the farms. The clubs second aim was to improve the pack of berries so buyers would receive a uniform pint, flat, or crate of strawberries.

WHEN WAS THE FIRST FESTIVAL HELD?

It was held the second weekend in April, 1948, in downtown Poteet and was enthusiastically received by the media and south Texas citizens.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE ANNUAL FESTIVAL?

The primary purpose of the festival is to promote Poteet’s premier strawberries, now an endangered crop. Another major purpose is providing scholarships to educate the youth of Poteet with festival proceeds. The festival has also become a major economic generator for south Texas and Atacosa County, pouring an estimated $10-$12 million into the South Texas economy. In addition, the annual berry fest is now a major tourism attraction for the state and the greater southwest United States.

HOW HAS THE FESTIVAL GROWN OVER THE LAST 7 DECADES?

The Annual Strawberry Fest hit the ground running that very first year. Approximately 5,000 people arrived to enjoy the party in 1948. and now the festival can expect over 100,000 to trek through the festival grounds during festival weekend. The first year volunteers were only from Poteet. In 2007, over 8,000 volunteers from all over Texas, other states, and a few foreign countries arrived to help stage this major Texas spring event.

WHO COMES TO THE FESTIVAL?

Everyone. Young families like the fact that children age 12 and under are admitted free of charge. Others recognize that the admission fee is absolutely the best entertainment package in the state. The price for a ticket for Saturday or Sunday will be $20 and $10 for Friday. Discount tickets (sold online) will be $15 for one day and $15 if they purchase two or more tickets. Once inside the festival grounds, individuals may sample all of the free, live entertainment on fourteen stages, including the outdoor concerts and the rodeo performances. Annually people from all over the nation and some foreign countries attending the berry fest.

ARE PETS ALLOWED?

Only service animals are allowed on the festival grounds, so please leave your pets at home.

WHO PARTICIPATES IN THE FESTIVAL?

People from all over. Over 100 groups from South Texas take part. Among those groups are 30+ non profit churches, civic, and school organizations which prepare and serve the taste tempting foods served on the festival grounds. On behalf of the Poteet Strawberry Festival Association, food booth chair, Carlos Torres, constantly monitors the condition of the booths and the quality of the food being served during festival weekend to insure food superiority and festival guests’ safety.

HOW MUCH DOES THE FOOD COST?

Guests will find coupons both selling coupons are universal and can also be used for carnival rides.

2023 PSF Food Booth List

Coming Soon!

Guest Info

PSFTX Event Details

LOCATION

9199 N State Hwy 16, Poteet, TX 78065

FESTIVAL INFORMATION

Held annually in April, the festival has 14 areas of continuous entertainment featuring concerts with nationally known Country Western and Tejano stars, regional bands, gunslingers, carnival, various contests, and rodeo performances. There is something for the whole family!

ABOUT POTEET STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

Located in the heart of the Artesian Belt, Poteet is recognized as the “Strawberry Capital of Texas”. No doubt, Henry and Ida Mumme, the city’s founders, would be amazed to see what acclaim is now attached to the crop which started as a few rows in Mumme’s kitchen garden. The first year of marketing Poteet strawberries proved very successful and strawberries sold for $20….that’s more than they sell for on today’s market. In 1921 a group of Poteet citizens invited guests from San Antonio to partake in its new-found delicacies. Headlines in the San Antonio Express read, “Crimson Berries Beckon Hungry Tourists to Poteet.” The Poteet Rotary Club continued the tradition when it organized the 1st Annual Poteet Strawberry Festival in 1948.

AUTHENTIC POTEET STRAWBERRIES

The Poteet Strawberry Festival Association celebrates every year with our Annual Poteet Strawberry Festival, typically held the second weekend of April every year. Since the annual event draws crowds more than 100,000, the demand for Poteet strawberries is greater than the supply. Unfortunately, outside strawberry markets move into the Poteet area to take advantage of the crowds. The Association has no control of vendors outside the Festival Grounds. However, to assure that our guests are getting the genuine articles, all local berries will be in newly designed boxes which state “Fresh Produce-Poteet, Texas” during Festival Weekend. The Poteet growers are also offered locations on the Festival Grounds to sell their berries. For information on Poteet strawberries and their availability at other times, call our office at 888-742-8144. Or, email Carol Rivera at carol@strawberryfestival.com, or Terri Y. Briseño at terri@strawberryfestival.com.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Over two decades ago the Poteet Strawberry Festival Association (PSFA) established a Scholarship Program. The Association saw its Scholarship Program as an avenue by which local young people could attain a higher education. Each year the Festival funds approximately thirty scholarships to Poteet graduates. The Association alone donates at least ten scholarships each year. Most of its seven member organizations donates from two to four scholarships each year and many of the thirty or so non-profit church, school and civic organizations that operate food booths on the Festival Grounds donate scholarships as well. Several years ago, to supply additional support and encouragement for these ambitious young people, the Poteet Strawberry Festival pledged continuing scholarships to those students who remained in college and maintained their grades. The purpose was to see that those who wished to graduate and earn a degree could, enabling them to become more productive citizens.

Grounds Map

Click on the Map below to open a larger image.

The Poteet Strawberry Festival grounds cover 100 acres packed with something for everyone! As you plan your trip, use the grounds map to familiarize yourself with parking, entertainment stages and other events so that your time here is spent having fun.

Parking
• $10 per vehicle
• No in/out parking
• No exemptions

Poteet Strawberry Festival Royalty

Festival Royalty & Scholarship Winners

Congratulations to the 2022 Poteet Strawberry Festival Royal Court –
Queen and King, Prince and Princess, Dukes & Dutchesses.

King: Carlos Jaythan Zuniga
Queen: Hallie Bates
Prince: Marcos Natal
Princess: Haley Hammonds
Duke: Luis Ramos
Duchess: Alexandria Gonzales

Little Mr Poteet – Jonah Garza
Little Miss Poteet – Emma Herrera

2022 Strawberry Festival Royal Court

Our Board of Directors

(Back row from left to right)
Chris Lopez, Daylon Payne, Will Bates, Don Retloff, Linda Ritchey (PSFA Secretary), Doris Thomas, Gerard Herrera, David Reyes, Leonard Martinez

(Front row from left to right)
Carlos Torres (PSFA President), Ron Mixon (PSFA Vice President), Connie Waxler, Diane Martinez, Brenda Young (PSFA Treasurer), Ruth Carson, Carol Rivera (Festival Coordinator), Anna Palacios Skurka (Assistant Festival Coordinator)