Pickle lovers gather at Laguna Lake for SLO Pickle Festival’s second year

This is a cross-published piece with Mustang News, more information can be found here.

The SLO Pickle Festival returned for its second year to Laguna Lake Park on Oct. 4, bringing pickle enthusiasts together to support Meals That Connect, San Luis Obispo’s Senior Nutrition Program.

Jaclyn Bartholomew, a graphic arts alum, served for the first time as the admin and digital outreach coordinator for the festival.

“The term pickle is very quirky but at the same time, the purpose of it is very serious,” Bartholomew said. “All proceeds go to Meals That Connect. They give free, really healthy meals to 60-year-old and older, adults who are in need of nutritious free meals that are already prepped.”

The organization also does non-clinical wellness checks for its clients. For many of the seniors, Meals That Connect are their only point of contact.  

This year, the festival sold more than 600 tickets. Attendees could enjoy pickle-themed activities including pickle-eating contests, pickling demonstrations, unlimited tastings of pickle-inspired bites and sips, a photo booth, live music and face painting.

Holly Hanson, a supervisor at Grand Avenue Market on Cal Poly’s campus, said she couldn’t resist attending.

“I love pickles, and I saw it, like the posters around Cal Poly actually and I was like ‘Oh okay I have to go I just have no decision but to go,’” Hanson said.

The idea began in 2020 with a pickleball tournament as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, organizers pivoted to the pickle festival format.

“We just wanted to make it better. We wanted it to be more fun. We wanted more people to join. And pickleball was very targeted, so we just wanted to think of something that was more people and a broader audience,” Bartholomew said. “So one intern at Meals That Connect said, ‘Oh, well, what about pickles?’”

What began as a small fundraiser during the pandemic has now become a local tradition drawing hundreds of residents and Cal Poly students.

Kristen Chu, a food science senior and volunteer at the festival, said the event highlighted how food brings people together.

“As a food science major, I think that food always brings people together, so I think it’s a great way for people to just try a bunch of different products and be able to see local vendors as well,” Chu said. “Just get a little taster and really promote local businesses like that and just be able to hang out and just have fun over some food.”

Behind the scenes, the festival was organized by a team of five, including Cal Poly alum Ashley Murphy, who studied graphic communications, and Reagan Ryder Smith, who studied event planning and experience management. More than 130 volunteers and 20 board members also helped execute the event.

Volunteers received free general admission, and all attendees were required to be of at least 21 years of age. 

Molly Ford, a history senior, said attending Pickle Fest offered a chance to connect with people outside her usual campus circle.

“I think since we got in for free, it kind of lowered that barrier of entry for us, and it’s definitely, like, a different population than I would normally see,” Ford said. “It’s less college students, more folks in their 30s and 40s and late 20s that are people that I would talk to, that I’d normally wouldn’t talk to at Poly.”

Whitney Furness, the winner of the pickle eating contest, said she joined on a whim but appreciated the festival’s purpose.

“My friend is pouring pickle beer, Donna’s Pickle Beer, and I didn’t know there was a pickle eating contest, but I have done competitive eating in the past, so I thought I would join, and I mean, this is for a good cause, too,” Furness said. “So, I mean, everybody here is enjoying pickles, but they’re also raising money for, you know, the communities. So it’s just wonderful.” 

With pickles in hand, live music in the background and festival-goers of all ages enjoying the day, the SLO Pickle Festival offered a lighthearted reminder of the city’s creativity and community spirit.

Correction: a previous version of this story incorrectly stated the year the Pickle Festival began. Audio story created by KCPR News Reporter Randi Ingoglia.