SeeCalifornia.com

Watermelon, the vegetable and fruit, is on center stage this weekend as several festivals make it a headline act. The Watermelon Festival in Pasadena takes place at the Rose Bowl August 16-18, 2013 (lionswatermelonfestival.com), and features all the watermelon you can eat. Watermelon eating, seed spitting, recipe and wearable art contests are part of the fun.  What you will see: National Watermelon Queen Amber Noli (center photo); watermelon swimsuit by OP–maybe? (right photo); Vans watermelon shoes, probably not–they were released in 2009;   Guinness World Records World’s Heaviest Watermelon (upper left photo) – definitely NOT. It  was grown by Lloyd Bright of Arkadelphia, Arkansas in 2005, weighing in at 268.8 lbs. That melon is long gone. A cat eating watermelon? You never know. Admission is $10.

In addition, there’s a big watermelon event on the beach in Huntington Beach called Ribs, Pigs & Watermelon (afhusa.org). It also goes from August 16 to 18, and cost $5 admission. Here’s last year’s feature coverage we provided!