SeeCalifornia.com

Each spring the City of Lancaster, Calif. puts on a fun festival celebrating California poppies that grow wildly on the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve approx. 15 miles west of the town’s fest. In 2020 the date has been set for California Poppy Festival on the weekend of April 18 & 19. While poppy blooms and abundance aren’t guaranteed in the region during the festival, the date each year offers one of your best opportunities to see them when conditions are just right. Best advice is to go have fun at the festival and hope for great poppy viewing. However, if seeing poppies is the main attraction for your trip, you can get updates (parks.ca.gov/?page_id=627).

Why not celebrate the glorious poppies with awards, as well? The State of California’s tourism arm, Visit California, has decided to do just that. Each year they call on their member destinations and entities to show their stuff, such as great marketing concepts and promotions that worked in the previous year.

California Poppy Award Finalists

(Below are a few highlights and excerpts from recent award finalists.)

Bishop Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau’s A Small Town with a BIG Backyard.

Visit Carmel-by-the-Sea exudes charm straight out of a painting.

Visit SLO CAL is Too Beautiful to Rush.

Visit Laguna Beach’s California Original Since 1927.

Visit Napa Valley Signature Blend/Crush That Meeting called on businesses to book this destination.

Boreal Mountain Pop-Up Parks appealed to younger generations’ fear of missing out.

Humboldt County Visitors Bureau capitalized on the Bigfoot craze.

Balboa Bay Resort partnered with Lilly Pulitzer. Staff wore Lilly Pulitzer clothes, mixed Pulitzer-themed cocktails, and gave guests exclusive Pulitzer gifts.

San Francisco International Airport Year of the Pig featured famed therapy pig LiLou.