Avocado Festival - Carpinteria
Details
Let's take the train --- From Simi to Carp!
40th Annual California Avocado Festival
This event is always such a fun time.
Below are links to this event from prior years:
October 2021
October 2022
October 2024
October 2025
Advice: If you are taking the train, purchase tickets using the app or a computer, BEFORE arriving at the station and preferably, many days in advance. The train often fills and if you wait, the train you want might not be available.
Seating on the 765 Pacific Surfliner:
The route has 6 train cars. Even if the people at any given station enter a single car as a group, we won't all be seated as a group. Coach seating is not reserved, and many seats will already be taken from those that boarded from earlier stations. We will end up spread out as we pass through the train cars looking for an available seat.
FESTIVAL ENTRANCE IS FREE!
Train is $20 each way from Simi Valley, arriving in Carpentaria 11:27a.
You may be able to book passage from other start locations.
The gathering spot.
Most of us will arrive and gather just outside the train at the Carpinteria station at approximately 11:27a. The hike will start from there. The train schedules often change by a few minutes, and can run late.
The Northbound 765 Pacific Surfliner:
6:40a Solana Beach, CA (SOL)
6:57a Oceanside, CA (OSD)
7:20a San Clemente Pier, CA (SNP)
7:37a San Juan Capistrano, CA (SNC)
7:52a Irvine (IRV)
8:04a Santa Ana (SNA)
8:13a Anaheim (ANA)
8:21a Fullerton (FUL)
9:13 Union Station (LAX)
9:26 Glendale (GDL)
9:36 Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR)
9:44a Van Nuys, CA (VNC)
9:59a Chatsworth, CA (CWT)
10:11a Simi Valley, CA (SIM)
10:25a Moorpark, CA (MPK)
10:39a Camarillo, CA (CML)
10:50a Oxnard, CA (OXN)
11:04a Ventura, CA (VEC)
11:30a Carpinteria, CA (CPN)
Return Train Options
Carpentaria 1:05p Simi Valley 2:29p
Carpentaria 3:19p Simi Valley 4:40p
Carpentaria 4:57p Simi Valley 6:22p
Carpentaria 7:16p Simi Valley 8:40p
Train Trips
There are no machines to buy Amtrak tickets at the station and they cannot be purchased onboard. If you try to use their website from your phone, it isn’t optimized for phones and you may end up having some obscured buttons. Download the app.
Sign up for guest rewards before you purchase your ticket. Otherwise, if for any reason you don’t receive their e-ticket, you won’t have a number for recalling your purchase and you’ll have to call their customer service number to get it resent.
Many of us will meet near the tracks in Simi Valley starting around 9:20a.
The link that follows is our approximate hike and festival path:
Link to Route
We'll start with a hike. It is a mostly flat walk along the beach. No hiking shoes or poles needed, some even do it with bare feet. I prefer my regular hiking boots. Part of the path is rocky, and the return path is along the camp grounds.
We'll be along Carpinteria Bluffs & Beach with its tide pools & tar pits, then trip around back & forth between Islands Brewery, the Avocado Festival, Rincon Brewery & Giovani's Pizza, other great restaurants, etc.
This is a festival. We'll start as a large group for the hike, but as we finish that part, we'll be spread out. Some will even skip the hike part. Expect that people will drift on their own from place to place, and you'll likely run into and hang out with clusters from our group as you walk through the event, enjoying the food and drink.
Messages of interest
Watch the comments on your phone if you can for messages during the event.
We'll let AMTRAK take us back at the end of the day!
ALTERNATIVELY: Drive yourself and meet at the Carpinteria station around 11:27a, or look for your hiking friends on the beach-front trails, along Linden Ave, and nearby breweries.
Festival Link
The festival runs from 10a - 10p on this day.