MARYSVILLE — The Strawberry Festival started in 1932 to put Marysville on the map and promote local berry farmers.
Many strawberry farms since have fallen victim to housing developments and other woes, but delicious, fresh, local strawberries still headline the festival each year.
Carol Kapua, a longtime Marysville resident and festival organizer, remembers more than two dozen strawberry farms in the area, mostly small ones.
These days, the festival typically gets its fare of berries from just two farms, the Biringers and the Dues.
The Biringer Farm has been part of the festival since 1948, Dianna Biringer said. Her husband, Michael, is a second-generation berry grower.
“He loves it. He’s a natural-born farmer,” she said.
Marysville once boasted more than 2,000 acres of strawberry fields, according to HistoryLink.org, an online encyclopedia of community history. A freeze in 1955 wiped out many of the farms, and the industry never fully recovered.
The Biringers have 22 acres in Arlington growing strawberries, raspberries and tayberries — a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry. They also have a pumpkin farm in Everett with a corn maze on Halloween.
The strawberry season typically begins mid-June, Biringer said. Because of this spring’s soggy weather, the strawberries are about a week late. She was a bit worried the crop wouldn’t be ripe in time for the festival.
Thankfully, a little sunshine goes a long way, and the Biringers expect this weekend to deliver about 170 pounds of strawberries.
Festival organizers try to stay positive each year, no matter the weather, Kapua said.
The festival runs June 11 through 20, with the biggest attractions, including a parade, scheduled this weekend.
Kapua and other volunteers log countless hours all year to make the festival happen. And each year, more than 100,000 people come to enjoy it.
“We’ve come a long way over the years. It’s become a way of bringing the community together,” Kapua said.
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com
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