CHIEH-HSIN (Jessie) LIN

The 25th annual Bellevue Strawberry Festival got under way last weekend at Crossroads Park with live entertainment, a hydroplane show and, of course, strawberry lovers’ favorite – 4,000 freshly prepared strawberry shortcakes waiting to be dug into.

The festival, sponsored by the Eastside Heritage Center, is celebrated on the fourth weekend of June every year as the revitalization of Bellevue’s old agricultural tradition from the 1920s and ’30s, when Bellevue was a major strawberry farming area.

Jennifer Heintz, festival coordinator, said although Bellevue has transformed into a metropolitan city, it is important for today’s Eastside residents to know the area’s history, and this is the mission of several heritage festivals hosted by EHC.

According to Heintz, the event used over 6,000 pounds of strawberries for shortcakes, which required a great number of volunteers to help prepare.

The prep process began the previous Wednesday, according to Mary Ellen, a Bellevue resident who has been volunteering for the event for almost a decade.

“Berries were washed, hulled, chopped, put in a big Rubbermaid bin, and we added sugar; they are kept in a big refrigerated truck for the weekend,” Ellen explained. Enough berries were preserved to serve an estimated 40,000 visitors.

As in previous years, kids’ activities and games were a big hit.  “We came last year and we kept a lookout for this year,” Phillip Hicks, of Bothell, said while waiting his daughter Jasmine at the face-painting booth.

“I really like strawberry milkshakes and the bouncy house,” Jasmine said with great excitement after getting her cheek painted with big pink lips.

Christine Jondahl of Renton and her two daughters came to pick up some fresh strawberries for homemade jam.

“It just seems like a fun place to bring the kids, and spend the day outside,” said Jondahl.

CHIEH-HSIN (Jessie) LIN is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.