We attended the Knott’s Media event for editorial purposes. Opinions are our own.
Knott’s Boysenberry Festival is back with an exciting line-up of live entertainment and delicious boysenberry-inspired foods! Whether you plan a family outing or date night, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. I also suggest scheduling a few trips to Knott’s Berry Farm before April 23 as there’s so much to accomplish in one day! As far as the food, Knott’s tops themselves every year with new creative dishes including the tangy taste of boysenberries.
What exactly is a boysenberry? A boysenberry is a cross of a European raspberry, a European blackberry, an American dewberry and the loganberry. This berry is pretty much the foundation of Knott’s Berry Farm and it’s fun to see what culinary delights they come up with next.
Me at the Boysenberry Festival!
My family attended the Boysenberry Festival on opening day and Knott’s treated us with Boysenberry Festival Tasting Cards (available for purchase for $25). The card is a great way to experience what food and drink the festival has to offer especially if you’re not sure what to try!
The six items on the Tasting Card are:
Boysenberry BBQ Meatballs at Bank of Calico – Life is better with meatballs especially served on a stick. Head to Ghost Town for a punch of protein from these perfect-shaped balls slathered in a BBQ boysenberry sauce. The meatballs were my daughter’s favorite. She found them savory and sweet. This was also my favorite new Boysenberry item!
Boysenberry BBQ Wings at Gold Trails Hotel – Our group enjoyed watching the cooks toss the chicken wings in the sweet BBQ sauce! You can request wings without the boysenberry sauce (in case your kids are picky) but the sauce definitely makes these wings stand out.
Boysenberry Pana Cotta with Almond Crumble at the Ghost Town Bakery – I didn’t even know Knott’s had a bakery! See, you learn something new every time you visit. The Pana Cotta is a cold, custard dessert which is light and creamy, topped with almonds and granola and a nice dollop of boysenberry jam as well as whipped cream. My daughter was pleasantly surprised by the nice chunks of juicy boysenberries hidden inside the custard.
Boysenberry Pizza at Wagon Wheel Pizza – This was definitely their most adventurous new menu item this year. You get a decent sized slice of pizza with boysenberry cream cheese sauce topped with pieces of Black Forest ham, caramelized onions, goat cheese and arugula. I love pizza and love the creative variation but this wasn’t really what I expected and a little too much for me. I guess I was in the mood for a regular greasy, salty, cheese slice.
Boysenberry Ravioli at Spurs Chophouse – Sometime it’s hard getting past what you have in your mind for traditional items such as ravioli. The ravioli is made with boysenberry flavored pasta (notice the color) then stuffed with a boysenberry filling and topped with chopped tomatoes and a nice alfredo boysenberry sauce with parmesan and garlic. The sauce was actually really good but this item is a bit overkill and overly sweet. It was definitely an interesting endeavor. I’d like to see them come up with another pasta item for next year.
Boysenberry Fry Bread at the Churro Factory – Yum!! Fry bread is a Native American bread that is simple to make and is a tasty treat. Knott’s Fry bread is topped with cinnamon, sugar then filled with boysenberry jam and Nutella. Our entire group indulged in this guilty pleasure. It was fresh and warm and the jam and Nutella combination was perfect.
Other Boysenberry treats to try at the park or take home with you are their boysenberry flavored cotton candy, popcorn and beef jerky! And I highly recommend enjoying the Boysenberry ICEE Floats while at the park. SOOO GOOD especially on a warm day! Another treat that caught my eye was the Chocolate Covered Boysenberry Cheesecake on a stick. I did not try this but I nabbed a photo when I stopped at Spurs.
Ready to get your drink on? (Responsibly of course). Purchase a tasting card for the Wine located inside of Ghost Town. Guests can try a variety of beverages including craft brews and over 50 different wines from 36 producers including boysenberry beer and boysenberry wine. The boysenberry beer definitely had the tang to it. My husband enjoyed the boysenberry cider. The Malibu Winery is one of my favorites so I suggest one of their wines. Your card also gets you a cheese and cracker pairing plate.
The Boysenberry Festival Tasting Card can be purchased online or at the following locations at the park: The California Store, Little Spurs, General Store, Ghost Town Candy, Gold Trails Hotel, Spurs Chophouse, Pemmican Pickle, Calico Saloon, Ghost Town Bakery, Sutter’s Grill, and Ghost Town Mix-it-up.
Deal alert: Knott’s is offering the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival Hotel Packages starting as low as $68 per person and include hotel accommodations, theme park admission, Knott’s Boysenberry Festival tasting card and parking. The package is available for stays between April 1 – 23. Book now online or make a reservation by phone by calling 1-866-752-2444.
What’s your favorite Boysenberry item?
We attended the Knott’s Media event for editorial purposes. Opinions are our own.
