The 2024 Knott’s Boysenberry Festival begins on March 8th and will be running on select days through April 28. This is the most delicious festival of the year at Knott’s Berry Farm and is full of delightful boysenberry dishes, entertainment, merchandise, and a whole lot more! It is a festival that really shouldn’t be missed at Knott’s Berry Farm! This year also sees the reimagined Knott’s Hotel welcoming guests, and it is beautiful!
Recently, the Daps Magic team had a chance to try out many of the foods being offered this year at the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. This included dishes from around the park and also those available with the tasting card. Below is a comprehensive look at the food being offered this year for the festival. There are a LOT of offerings this year. In fact, there are over 75 offerings this year, and over two dozen of them are brand new! With that in mind, first lets take a look at the big picture of what is being offered through the lens of Murray’s camera. Then, we will both what our favorites were this year that you won’t want to miss!
Favorite Knott’s Boysenberry Festival Appetizer
Mr. Daps:
I personally loved the Warm Spam Musabi with Boysenberry Sauce. I will admit, I was a little bit nervous about this but the moment I put it in my mouth all trepidation went away. I loved it and would have been perfectly happy just eating them by the handful. This was definitely a highlight for me at the media preview!
Murray:
Favorite Knott’s Boysenberry Festival Entree
Mr. Daps:
I had two favorites in terms of entrees. The first was the Boysenberry BBQ Beef Barbacoa on Mac & Cheese with Green Onions. I loved the Mac & Cheese base and the BBQ Beef Barbacoa was delicious. It had a nice boysenberry taste in the bbq sauce for the beef that wasn’t too overpowering. I could eat this all night and I will definitely be getting it when attending the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. Who am I kidding? I’ll probably have it more than once. As an honorable mention, I should also bring up the Boysenberry Pulled Pork over Pastel de Elote. This was a boysenberry pulled pork that was put on top of a cornbread type thing. It was delicious!
Murray:
The favorite for me was the Boysenberry BBQ Beef on Mac and Cheese. It’s hard to go wrong with Mac and Cheese, and Knott’s does a great job at a creamy version of it. The Beef had a nice sweet and tangy flavor, but not overpowering. It was a great spring barbecue item. I am with Mr. Daps that the Pastel de Elote was good as well, but I mostly liked the Elote part, and wanted the pulled pork to have a little something different to go with it.
Favorite Knott’s Boysenberry Festival Dessert
Mr. Daps:
I really enjoyed the Brownie Bites and Boysenberry Parfait. It wasn’t too over the top with anything. It was surprisingly refreshing and enjoyable and not too sweet. I would definitely enjoy having this one again!
Murray:
This is actually hard to decide, and it’s a tie for me. I really liked the Parfait (and even took one home for my wife to enjoy) but the Lemon Bar with Boysenberry Compote was also very good. The Parfait was light and had just enough boysenberry taste without overpowering the accompanying chocolate. The Lemon Bar was perfectly baked soft with a sweet topping and great lemon taste.
Favorite Knott’s Boysenberry Festival Drink
Mr. Daps:
I really enjoyed a lot of the beverages that were offered this year for the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. My favorite I have chosen as I think of what I would want on a warm spring afternoon. I really enjoyed the Boysenberry Punch and Pineapple Juice Rum Runner. It was refreshing, not overly sweet, and overall a lovely cocktail that wasn’t overpowered by boysenberry or pineapple. It really surprised me that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Murray:
Besides the always good Boysenberry Punch, the Rum Runner was a great drink. I’m a sucker for Pineapple and love Boysenberry accents, so this was a perfect combination. Neither was overpowering but it all had a great balance to it that was suprising. It’s easy to have a couple of them in a row, so drink wisely!
Thirty Acres Kitchen Bites
Mr. Daps:
Getting to taste some of the offerings from 30 Acres at the new Knott’s Hotel was also a treat! I enjoyed the signature burger in slider form that was offered and loved the Chipotle BBQ Chicken Pizza. It was a wonderfully balanced pizza that wasn’t too heavy or overpowering with bbq sauce. I would go back for either!
Murray:
We also were able to get a taste of what the new Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel has to offer in their signature kitchen. We had a slider sized taste of their signature burger, which was grilled so well and had a great crispy onion topping. Some great flavors of sauce and brioche bun made it complete. The Chipotle BBQ Chicken Pizza was also very tasty with a slight spice kick to it, but a great BBQ sauce flavor to give it more of a sweet and spicy entrée. It comes in flatbread style and was scrumptious. These items, alone, made me want to book a table at the restaurant!
Daps Magic has created a guide with all of the offerings and locations for this year’s tasting card during the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival. It can be found here: https://dapsmagic.com/2024/02/geek-eats-knotts-boysenberry-festival-tasting-card-offerings-tips/
What do you think of what is offered this year for Knott’s Boysenberry Festival? What are you most looking forward to eating/drinking? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
