It was a jammed-packed Third Avenue as locals came together to celebrate one of South Bay's main traditions.
On Saturday, thousands of people showed up to the 25th annual Lemon Festival held on Third Avenue, Chula Vista, the first big one since the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on public activities around the world.
The festival, as always, it had it all. From food vendors, lemon-based crafty objects, live music, play area for kids, it was the ideal Saturday for local families to come together and celebrate one of Chula Vista's longest traditions of over two decades.
According to the city's online website, Chula Vista has been widely-recognized as the "lemon capitol of the world" since the construction of the Sweetwater Dam back in 1888.
This annual event was planned out by Chula Vista's Third Avenue Village Association, which is targeting a re-brand of this part of the South Bay, especially by giving Third Avenue a new name to go by from this point going forward.
Third Avenue Village Association Board Member Dr. Gonzalo Quintero told the local press that they aim to re-brand Third Avenue with Downtown Chula Vista's label.
Dr. Quintero says that this re-brand is due to how they want to show the city that Downtown Chula Vista goes beyond just a single avenue, but rather, an entire region of its own.
“Third Avenue Village, there’s a new brand coming out — Downtown Chula Vista. We want to let people know that it’s not just one avenue, it’s a whole region so the Third Avenue Village Association came together through committee, made this decision with community investment from our neighbors, our business neighbors. We decided to come up with a new branding and a new name, Downtown Chula Vista," said Dr. Quintero.
According to reports, there were up to 30,000 locals who attended Saturday's event that began around 11 a.m., making the festival's comeback a huge success for the city of Chula Vista.
