By Sarah Howery Hart

Color Us Purple

On Saturday, June 30, a singularly focused event will held in Libbey Park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the 15th anniversary of the Ojai Valley Lavender Festival.

The event will feature all things lavender — plants, candles, bath and beauty products, lavender clothing and jewelry and lavender foods, and due to the enjoyment of such products, President Cindy Mullins says the festival’s popularity has increased. “I think the very first one drew less than 2,000 people, and we have around 5,000 now.”

The number of vendors providing these lavender products has increased as well. “The first year we had maybe 50 or 60, and now we have 118 vendors,” Mullins says. There’s a focus on farms, such as Rivendell Aromatics, who have been present at all 15 festivals. “We try to attract lavender growers. We want to see fresh lavender, cut lavender, and products like lotions and soaps. We try to emphasize lavender in every vendor stall, whether it’s lavender clothing, jewelry, or another product.” Vendors offering lavender plants, in addition to Rivendell, include Central Coast Lavender Farm, Ojai Lavender Farms, and the St. Barbara Monastery.

In addition to the lavender, guests are also attracted by the entertainment, this year again MC’d by local musician and producer, Smitty West, who is also part of the singing duo Smitty and Julija (Zonic), who harmonize on both original music and old favorites. Other entertainers include Richard Kaller, a local singer and songwriter who combines storytelling and song, from blues/ light jazz to country/rock, and Eliya Frantz, performing in her personally developed style, blending jazz, pop and indie.

Cindy Kalmenson, of Cindy Kalmenson & The Lucky Ducks, has recorded three critically acclaimed CDs in Nashville. The music of singers/ songwriters Lynn Mullins and Coyote Creek blends multiple genres drawn from their individual experiences.

The group Ventucky blends three-part harmonies, original songwriting into a sound reminiscent of country western roots — singer/songwriter Jon Gindick is a world-renowned blues harmonica player. All perform under the prowess of sound engineer, Dr. Roger Phelps, familiar to both music lovers and his optometry patients.

Ecological landscaper Laura Maher of Greywater Action will speak on how to design and build a greywater system. Amanda Mullins, health advocate, will discuss how to incorporate plant based foods into one’s lifestyle. She will provide her own recipes, including her nutritious brownies.

Two Lavender Festival-related events will be held on Sunday, July 1, including Lavender Cooking with April Tucker, held at the aptly named Lavender Inn at 1 p.m. Attendees will prepare HoneyLemon Lavender Chicken, LavenderPeach Quinoa Salad, Lavender-Blueberry Ice Cream, and Lavender Lemonade.

Also on Sunday, Frog Creek Farm owner and educator Christel Rogero will speak at 11 a.m. about his organic farm, crops among which are lavender. Attendees may pick a bouquet.

One goal of the Lavender Festival is to provide scholarships to prospective agriculture students “Our main purpose,” Mullins says, “is to educate people. We live in an agricultural valley, and our goal is to send local people on to educational pursuits.”

The festival also provides grants, this year to residents impacted by the Thomas Fire. “We gave six grants,” Mullins explains, “to replace landscaping and restore the beauty of the Ojai Valley.” She adds that many local businesses support these efforts through donations, including to Lavender Festival raffle baskets. “Every bit of money from our raffle baskets goes into the scholarship fund, and the raffle basket values just keep going up, some worth $1,000.”

There is free offsite parking and free shuttle service, provided by Help of Ojai, running to Libbey Park, and Mullins advises attendees to look for the signage as they approach Ojai. (Lavender Festival: ojaivalleylavenderfestival.org. For April Tucker cooking class reservations, phone the Lavender Inn at 805-646-6635.)