September 26-29, 2024
Firebaugh Dunkle Park
1500 Q Street
Firebaugh, CA
Free admission, firebaugh.org
Thursday 5 p.m.-12 a.m.
Friday 5 p.m.-12 a.m.
Saturday 5 p.m.-12 a.m.
Sunday 5 p.m.-12 a.m.
Free Activities - Magic Show, Caricature Drawings, Face Painting, Balloon
Art and dozens of rides with kids in mind. During Kids Day at the Cantaloupe Roundup
last year Jose from Del Bosque Farms talked to kids about how to grow their own cantaloupe.
You can grab your carnival ride tickets at City Hall.
$80 Unlimited Rides 4 days
$35 Unlimited Rides 1 day
Concerts offer a great opportunity for everyone to get up and dance to the music. The dance area next to the concert stage is paved and lighted at night. Tables and chairs overlook the concert stage so people can sit and enjoy food, beverages and live music.
Lady and the Tramps
4 Play Band
The Carlos Montano Band
Banda La Talpena
Mariachi Alegre de Fresno
Grupo Azteca de Valle
Banda la Talpena
Mas Entertainment DJs
Opening ceremonies often include a moving flag raising by the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Thursday afternoon.
Cantaloupe Roundup includes food booths selling Mexican foods such as tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas, churros, nachos, flautas and tostadas. Then there's seafood like shrimp (camarones), chicken, salad, ramen, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ tri-tip, corn dogs and French fries, popcorn, caramel apples, funnel cakes, Sno Cones, cookies, ice cream, cotton candy, shaved ice, aguas frescas, sodas, beer, lemonade, and of course, CANTALOUPE!
Kiddie rides include miniature trains and vehicles that go round in circles, swings, bumper cars, Ferris wheel and the giant slide.
There's a carnival midway with all the fun games where you can toss something and if it lands in the right spot, you win a big prize like a stuffed animal.
The carnival like Zipper, giant swings, hammer, tilt-a-whirl and others offering extreme thrills cater to the big kid crowd. The carnival is a top attraction at Cantaloupe Roundup.
Firebaugh is home to cantaloupe growers and packers like a big carnival
contributor, Westside Produce, a nationally recognized grower, packer, and shipper of the finest quality cantaloupe / honeydew melons.
Many attending the annual Firebaugh Cantaloupe Roundup work the fields and
other jobs related to growing cantaloupe. Sometimes free cantaloupe fruit is
given away at the festival by companies that grow and pack cantaloupe. Such
companies host booths and seminars at the annual event, teaching how to grow
cantaloupe and answering questions.
Westside Produce Farm, 785 12th St, Firebaugh, CA,
westsideproduce.com
In 2009 Perez Packing Inc.,
Firebaugh, Calif., and Crown Jewels Marketing & Distributing LLC, Fresno,
Calif., formed a strategic alliance returned the marketing of the Firebaugh
company's melons to its valley roots. Crown Jewels provides marketing for
the locally grown cantaloupes and honeydews that are packed and placed in
cold storage at the Firebaugh packinghouse. The company, which marked is
over 70 years old grows 2,500 acres of melons in the Firebaugh area,
producing about 2.2 million cartons of cantaloupes and about 300,000 cartons
of honeydews. Harvesting of both melons begins annually about July 1,
continuing through September.