Port of Hueneme celebrates 12th Banana Festival
Tracy Lehr
PORT HUENEME, Calif.(KEYT) The Port of Hueneme went bananas during its annual Banana Festival.
The Oxnard High School Marching band and local Folklorico dancers led the way into the 12th Banana Festival.
Admission is always free.
One man entered with a banana peel on his head, others wore banana inspired outfits.
Once inside the port, visitors had a chance to take pictures with the Chiquita Banana Lady.
Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte had booths where they gave out bananas to eat on the spot or take home.
Shannon Denham handed out bananas for Dole.
They are fun they are nutritious kids love them, everyone loves a banana,” said Denham.
Banana lovers also dined on all kinds of banana treats including smoothies, banana bread and chips.
It is the one day of the year when people can visit the Port of Hueneme where Dole, Chiquita and Del Monte bananas are imported along with and Driscroll’s blueberries.
Cars are also big part of the import business at the port.
The festival included a car show outside and inside.
One of the electric cars on display had a box of bananas under the hood, instead of an engine.
People lined up early to take a double-decker bus to the docks where they could see the cargo ships and the equipment used to move containers.
Ken Asarch was one of the first in line to take the tour.
“The tours are really great and they are hard to get, so, you have to be here early to get the tour,” said Asarch.
Longtime Port of Hueneme Director and CEO Kristin Decas hopes people learned more about the port during the festival.
“We move $2.8 billion in economic impact , $18 billion in cargo, we employ 25,000 in trade related jobs, so we hope people walk away knowing that their port creates prosperity,” said Decas.
The port shares the property with Naval Base Ventura County.
It is the only deep water port between Los Angeles and the Bay Area and plays a vital role in the economy of the Central Coast.
For more information visit https://www.PortofH.org and https://bananaportfest.com