Mango[flavored] Festival – by the UEL intern

I’ve had a mango craving all summer. The ones I’ve eaten so far were not quite ripe, or not quite as flavorful as what I wanted, and I was delighted to recall that Fairchild was holding their Mango Festival this past weekend. Finally, I could eat some real mangos, without resorting to buying them off the side of the road.

I headed out the Mango Festival on Sunday, and because I was running a bit late, I didn’t ride a bike, as they had strongly suggested. However, I realized once I got there that having ridden would have gotten me $5 off my admission price. Oh well.

I had simple goals for the day: one, take a couple shots of the pretty Fairchild plants; two, watch the Indian dance show; three stuff my face with mangos.

Goal number one was easy, when I arrived around one-thirty the grounds were practically sizzling with the heat, and I was glad to escape the tents and ineffective mist-fans and wander along the paths through the fauna, shaded by the trees on every side. My thirteen-year-old brother begrudgingly agreed to be my model, posing on rocks and leaning against a tree.

However, I was intent on the mango eating. But the $1 mango sampling event had run out of mangos, and the ones being sold were not cut up. Should’ve brought a knife to buy one and cut it open right there. I tried a Mango smoothie, but it was terribly watered down. The mango ice cream being sold was delicious, but still not hitting the spot—I wanted to eat REAL mango.

At 2:30, I went to see the Indian dance show. From what I could see, it seemed neat, but the room was packed and we didn’t get seats. As the room filled up even more, my view became almost entirely blocked, and I went out for fresh air before they performed “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire. Well, Goal number two was mostly accomplished.

I wandered around some more, checking out the tents selling everything from boba tea to seagrass hats, and then headed inside a little later for the mango auction. I was shocked to see a basket of four or five mangos being sold for almost a hundred dollars! Apparently, the mango auction was not going to be the place for me to finally eat some mango.

After finding that all of the mango trees being sold were gone, I decided to leave. Was it a good day? Yes, but mostly because Fairchild is too lovely to leave you feeling down. But I was shocked that I never found anywhere to eat mango. Guess that goal would have been better accomplished buying some off the side of the road for fifty cents, after all.

(note: the photo is from the mango auction, where the lovely dancers displayed the mangos for the buyers)