California Seaweed Festival 2023 - Thank You San Diego!

Recap of the 4th annual California Seaweed Festival

Dear friends of the Festival!

We are savoring the memories of the 4th California Seaweed Festival in San Diego and extend our heartfelt thank you to all who attended to celebrate all things seaweed Southern California.

This year’s festival marked a significant milestone as the largest gathering yet, with an estimated 2000 attendees joining us at Waterfront Park for the main Saturday event. We are immensely grateful to everyone who participated and a special thank you goes out to our dedicated volunteers, sponsors, vendors, exhibitors and speakers… we couldn’t do it without you!

Seaweed Speakeasy, Friday Nov 3rd

Hosted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD

The festival kicked off on Friday with an enchanting evening filled with networking, delectable creations by local chefs, specially craft seaweed cocktails, an engaging student poster session, a silent auction and a mesmerizing theatrical performance by ResilienSEA, all in a beautiful ocean view location. Thank you to everyone who donated and purchased items for the silent auction that supports keeping the California Seaweed Festival main event open to everyone.

Main Festival, Saturday Nov 4th

All at the downtown Waterfront Park with views across to San Diego Bay.

It would have been hard to see it all! Highlights from Saturday include:

Opening remarks in English and Spanish and a land acknowledgement from a Kumeyaay tribal elder
Launch of the Above/Below Webstory
30 vendors and exhibitors showcasing seaweed artwork, science and hands-on activities for all ages
Two big tents hosting panel discussions about seaweed Science, Art, Film, Farming, Funding, Health, an Indigenous Forum and short talks from researchers, all day.
A food tastings tent hosting a chefs experience and samples of seaweed foods including seaweed “meat” tacos with fresh seaweed salsa
Seaweed margaritas in reusable Festival tumblers in the Beer Garden
A stunning poster by San Diego artist Yvonne Byers
Seaweed Nymphs and Garibaldis saving the day in a specially commissioned street theater performance by ResilienSEA
A tank full of live seaweed and art activities using it
Music and three live bands to enjoy all day
Even the food trucks all served seaweed!

Baja Seaweed Excursion, Sunday Nov 5th

A fundraiser for the California Seaweed Festival

On Sunday, thirty lucky attendees got up close and personal with industry leaders Blue Evolution, UABC, and AlgaMar, followed by seaweed-forward fine dining at Animalón. The day closed with sampling of sea lettuce beer to tantalize taste buds, conversation and the golden hour before sunset in the Baja wine country.

If you are a researcher, consider partnering with us on community outreach and engagement to broaden your impacts. The festival is also a great place to test new products or reach your stakeholders. Contact us to discuss partnership opportunities.

Stay tuned and follow our channels for the location and dates of the 5th California Seaweed Festival, coming soon! With sincere gratitude for helping us turn our dream into reality,

The California Seaweed Festival

- Organizing 2023 Team

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A huge thank you from the festival staff and sponsors!

We cannot wait to see you southern California for the 5th California Seaweed Festival, in Fall 2024. Stay tuned and follow us on social media to learn more!

Looking forward

As we celebrate the success of the 4th Festival, we ask for your continued support. The California Seaweed Festival is a 501(c)3 registered non-profit. Your contributions enable us to continue this vital educational outreach in a way that inspires and engages everyone from experts to passers-by. Please consider making a donation.

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We are now actively planning for the 5th Festival and welcome input on what you thought about this year and what you would like to see at future festivals. You can help by completing our survey below.

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