Auburn Mandarin Festival November 22-24, 2013, Auburn, CA  - Gold Country Fairgrounds, Auburn, CA. mandarinfestival.com

Some of the sweetest mandarin fruit comes from the golden hills of Placer County, California east of Sacramento. The annual Mandarin Festival in Auburn celebrates the crop with an outdoor / indoor event containing thousands of mandarin recipes in contests, foods you can buy and eat, and sweet 10 pound bags of mandarins to take home with you. 

The annual Mountain Mandarin Festival showcases olive oils with cold pressed mandarin flavor, Absolut Vodka with mandarin, and many other incredible gourmet products sold by vendors at the event. Food samples, food booths, great bands, an an entire kids village with miniature train rides, balloon art, face painting and contests, allow visitors to enjoy the local bounty , and get a head start on holiday shopping. 

Founded by Joanne Neft who was convinced the local mandarin industry and delicious fruit was being overlooked by bigger interests, the entrepreneur launched the festival but also helped grow a local industry vital to the region's desire to maintain healthy lifestyles.

Neft is credited with not only launching Mountain Mandarin Festival, but also getting the study done to determine mandarin's  benefits, if any, compared to the more traditional fruits such as oranges. When results were released, local farms nearly instantly sold out of their produce for the season. The interest in mandarins provided just enough boots to encourage local families and farms that what they were doing had value.

Results of Study

A little known fact is that 10 oz of mandarin juice contains as much synephrine as a Sudafed decongestant tablet. Placer's popular Owari Satsuma mandarins pack a jolt of synephrine, a natural antihistamine that relieves cold and allergy symptoms.

Perhaps that's why everyone seems so healthy and happy at the annual Mandarin Festival held annually in Auburn. Placer County mandarins tested contained up to six times more of the healthy stuff than oranges.

The Mountain Mandarin Festival gets approx. 40,000 visitors to Gold Country Fairgrounds where the event is held annually to coincide with the fall crop. There are approx. 65 registered growers in Placer County who generally sell out their crops each year, thanks to people finding out about the health benefits of the fruit.

In taste tests, people also preferred the sweet flavor of mandarins to oranges and other fruits.

Some Mountain Mandarin Festival Mandarin Growers:

Ann's Orchard  Certified Organic
4595 Godley Road, Lincoln CA 95648
(916) 645-1496
annsorchard.com

Colwell's Thundering Herd Ranch
2500 Penryn Road, Penryn CA 95663 
(916) 663-1050
colwell@mandarinoliveoil.com

Highland Orchard, Inc. 
2170 Aguilar Lane, Penryn CA 95663
(916) 663-3897  highlandorchard@att.net

Hillcrest Orchard 
956 Clark Tunnel Road, Penryn CA 95663
(916) 663-3603
hillcrestmandarins.com

Magnolia Hill
7370 Ridge Road, Newcastle CA 95658
(916) 663-3739
landblewis@sbcglobal.net

Miller Honey Mandarins
80 Geraldson Road, Newcastle CA 95658
(530) 889-0552
millerhoneyfarms.com

Newcastle Mandarin Ranch 
3219 Hector Road, Newcastle CA 95658
(916) 663-1475

Palm crest Orchards 
1743 Palmcrest Lane, Penryn CA 95663
(916) 663-3843  mandarins@ncbb.net

S & J Mandarin Grove Certified Organic
145 Uncle Joes Lane, Newcastle CA 95658
(916) 663-3310
sandjmandarins.com

Side Hill Citrus  Certified Organic
4065 Pleasant Hill Road, Lincoln CA 95648
(530) 888-6048   (916) 343-1098 
sidehillcitrus.com

Snow's Citrus Court − We ship
9860 Powerhouse Road, Newcastle CA 95658
 (916) 663-1884
 snowscitrus.com

Sunset Ridge Mandarins 
7825 Fox Hill Lane, Newcastle CA 95658
(916) 663-9158
gotmandarins.com 

Traylor Ranch Mandarins
7745 Law Lane, Loomis CA 95650
(916) 996-9188 Cell
wctraylor@gmail.com

Westview Growers 
3550 Taylor Road, Loomis CA 95650
(916) 652-8341   bluegooseproduce.com

Willow Creek Ranch − We ship!
1301 Clark Tunnel Road, Penryn CA 95663
(916) 663-2820
gpwillow@sbcglobal