Conecuh County Alabama Strawberry Festival
In the southern end of Conecuh County, the small town of Castleberry has built its public identity around a single red fruit. Castleberry bills itself as the Strawberry Capital of Alabama, a title the governor formally declared for the town in 1987, and its signature gathering is the Castleberry Strawberry Festival. The event behind this article’s county-framed title is that hometown festival: no source bills it as a Conecuh County festival, and the county framing comes only from Castleberry’s location within the county.
The record shows a spring tradition described in the present tense by the Encyclopedia of Alabama, whose Castleberry entry, updated in December 2025, states that the town holds an annual Strawberry Festival on the third Saturday in April, with fresh strawberries, food and crafts vendors, and live music. Around that core sit older guide and directory layers, each fenced to its own year, and one honest question mark about the festival’s recent currency, recorded here openly.
About the Festival
The Castleberry Strawberry Festival is a one-day spring street festival in downtown Castleberry, in southern Conecuh County, Alabama. One guide layer places it on West Cleveland Avenue, a block from Strawberry Street, a pairing that shows how thoroughly the fruit runs through the town’s geography as well as its calendar. No street-number address for the grounds is published in the sources checked, and none is claimed here.
The festival’s documented ingredients are simple and consistent across the layers. Fresh strawberries are the centrepiece. Food and crafts vendors line the downtown streets, and live music forms part of the day in every description that survives. A guide layer adds a Strawberry Shuffle 5k fun run on festival day and a Strawberry Festival Beauty Pageant dated April 8 in that roundup’s year layer, showing the celebration has at times stretched beyond the single Saturday.
Admission carries a reassuring record, with a caveat. Guide and directory layers agree that no admission was charged: one guide describes a free festival running from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both are historical layers rather than a guaranteed current price sheet.
For a useful comparison, see the Conecuh County Alabama Collard Green Festival for another county festival.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Record |
| Festival’s own name | Castleberry Strawberry Festival |
| Host town | Castleberry, in southern Conecuh County |
| County seat | Evergreen (Castleberry is not the county seat) |
| Town distinction | Strawberry Capital of Alabama, declared by the governor in 1987 |
| Documented pattern | The third Saturday in April |
| Documented hours | 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the guide layer |
| Setting | Downtown Castleberry; one guide layer places it on West Cleveland Avenue |
| Admission record | No admission charged in the guide and directory layers |
| Companion events in the record | Strawberry Shuffle 5k fun run; Strawberry Festival Beauty Pageant |
| Currency note | No dated 2025 or 2026 edition appears in the research |
History
The festival’s history is inseparable from the title the town carries. Castleberry’s claim to be the Strawberry Capital of Alabama was formalised in 1987, when the governor declared it so, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama’s Castleberry entry. A town does not receive a title like that without a farming reputation behind it, and the annual festival grew up as the public celebration of that reputation.
Precise founding details do not survive in the sources checked. No source gives a founding year, a first edition, or an anniversary numbering for the festival, and this article claims none. What the record offers instead is a pattern and a set of snapshots. The pattern, from the encyclopedia, is the third Saturday in April. The snapshots come from guide coverage: one roundup’s year layer dates the festival April 15, while a 2024-layer article dates it April 20, each belonging to its own year’s calendar rather than to a fixed rule.
The older directory listing preserves the festival’s working economics from its own era: no admission charged, crafts booths at thirty-five dollars, and food booths at fifty dollars, all fenced to that listing. The figures show how a small-town festival financed itself through vendor fees while keeping the gate open; they are not a price sheet for any future edition.
The most recent layer is also the most complicated. The directory listing carries a caution: it says the festival appears to have stopped being held after about 2018, and that nothing current could be found about it. Against that caution stands the Encyclopedia of Alabama, updated in December 2025, still describing the festival in the present tense as an annual event on the third Saturday in April. Both layers are recorded here unmerged. The research found no dated 2025 or 2026 edition, so the honest summary is an annual Castleberry tradition whose most recent editions are unconfirmed in the sources checked.
What to Expect
A visitor working from the documented record should picture a small-town main-street festival rather than a large fairground production. Downtown Castleberry forms the grounds, with the guide layer’s West Cleveland Avenue location, a block from Strawberry Street, giving the gathering its setting. Fresh strawberries anchor the food offering, and the encyclopedia adds food and crafts vendors and live music to the mix.
The guide layer fills in the day’s shape. Hours run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., an early start that suits a spring Saturday in south Alabama. Arts and crafts vendors give browsers something to do between tastes of berries, and the Strawberry Shuffle 5k fun run puts a burst of morning exercise on festival day itself, suggesting an event as much about community participation as spectatorship.
The Strawberry Festival Beauty Pageant, dated April 8 in the roundup’s year layer, hints at a wider social calendar in the documented years, giving local families a role beyond attending. None of these elements comes with a promise that any particular one returns in any given year; they are the documented ingredients of editions past.
Planning Your Visit
Because the festival’s recent editions are unconfirmed in the sources checked, the first planning step is verification rather than booking. Before travelling to Castleberry for a third Saturday in April, look for current-year confirmation from local Conecuh County sources, such as news outlets or community pages, since the research found no dated 2025 or 2026 edition and no current announcement from any organising body.
That caution aside, the documented pattern gives a planner something to work with. The third Saturday in April is the slot the encyclopedia records, and the two dated guide layers, April 15 in one roundup’s year and April 20 in the 2024-layer article, both sit consistently with a mid-April Saturday. Treat those dates as illustrations of the slot, not appointments, and hold travel arrangements loosely until a current edition is announced.
One point deserves emphasis, because visitors sometimes confuse it: Castleberry is not the county seat. The seat of Conecuh County is Evergreen, a separate town. Anyone combining a festival trip with county business should plan around Evergreen for those purposes and Castleberry for the festival.
On the day itself, the documented 8 a.m. opening argues for an early arrival. Downtown festivals fill their central streets quickly, and a morning start lets a visitor browse crafts before the midday crowd. Spring weather in south Alabama swings between cool mornings and warm afternoons, so layered clothing, sun protection, and water belong in every plan.
A Sample Festival Day in Castleberry
An itinerary built from the documented record might begin at the early end of the day’s 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. span. Arriving near opening time puts the Strawberry Shuffle 5k fun run, held on festival day in the guide layer, at the start of the morning, as participant or spectator. A slow first pass along the vendor rows follows, noting which stalls carry the freshest-looking berries for later.
Mid-morning suits the crafts booths and food vendors. Live music, part of the encyclopedia’s core description, pairs naturally with a lunch bought from a food stall and eaten within earshot of the stage.
The afternoon can slow down. A second circuit for the strawberries, bought late so they travel home fresh, and a final pass down West Cleveland Avenue make a fitting close.
The Pattern and the Snapshots
Reading this festival’s record shows how small-town events are documented. The pattern comes from the strongest source, the Encyclopedia of Alabama, describing an annual festival on the third Saturday in April. The snapshots come from weaker layers: a roundup dating the festival April 15 in its year, a 2024-layer article dating it April 20, and an older directory preserving booth prices and a no-admission note. Each snapshot is true to its layer; none should be stretched into a claim about another year.
The tension sits between the directory’s caution and the encyclopedia’s present tense. The directory compiler believed the festival appeared to have stopped after about 2018; the encyclopedia, revised years later, still speaks of it as a living annual event. This article declines to merge the two. Readers weighing a trip should give the encyclopedia’s currency real weight while checking for a current announcement before they travel.
Planning Checklist
- Confirm a current-year edition through local Conecuh County sources before travelling, since no dated 2025 or 2026 edition appears in the research
- Work around the documented third-Saturday-in-April pattern, treating it as a slot to verify rather than a fixed appointment
- Remember that Evergreen, not Castleberry, is the county seat when planning any county business on the same trip
- Aim to arrive near the documented 8 a.m. opening to catch the fun run and the freshest vendor rows
- Bring cash in small notes for vendor purchases, as small-town festival stalls often trade simply
- Carry water, sun protection, and a light layer for a changeable south Alabama spring day
- Buy fresh strawberries late in the visit so they travel home in good condition
- Leave the schedule loose after 5 p.m., the documented close
Beyond the Festival
A trip to Castleberry can stretch pleasantly beyond the festival streets. The town’s Strawberry Capital identity, declared by the governor in 1987, is visible in its very street names, with Strawberry Street sitting a block from the guide layer’s festival location on West Cleveland Avenue. This is a community that organised its public story around a crop, and the festival is the most concentrated expression of that story.
Conecuh County offers the wider frame. Evergreen, the county seat, anchors the county’s civic life, and the drive between the two towns crosses farmland and pine country that explains why a strawberry harvest mattered enough here to shape a town’s identity.
Why the Castleberry Strawberry Festival Matters
Small festivals carry outsized meaning for the towns that hold them, and Castleberry’s is a clear example. A governor’s declaration in 1987 made the Strawberry Capital title official, but titles fade unless a community keeps performing them. An annual festival on the third Saturday in April is how Castleberry has performed its title, gathering residents and visitors around fresh fruit, vendor rows, a fun run, and live music downtown.
The festival also matters as a piece of the documentary record. Its sources show how fragile the memory of small events can be: a directory compiler suspecting it had ended, an encyclopedia still describing it as alive, and no recent dated edition to settle the question. Preserving an accurate, honestly fenced account of its pattern and its open question is worth doing precisely because events of this size are the easiest to lose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Castleberry call itself the Strawberry Capital of Alabama?
The title is more than a slogan. According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama’s Castleberry entry, the governor declared Castleberry the Strawberry Capital of Alabama in 1987, formalising a reputation built on strawberry farming. The festival carries the same identity: fresh strawberries are the centrepiece of its documented programme, and even the town’s street names echo the crop.
Which Saturday in April does the festival use?
The Encyclopedia of Alabama, in its December 2025-updated Castleberry entry, describes the festival as an annual event held on the third Saturday in April. Dated guide layers fit that pattern loosely: one roundup’s year layer gives April 15, and a 2024-layer article gives April 20, each belonging to its own year. Because no dated recent edition was found, anyone planning a trip should verify the current year’s arrangements rather than relying on the pattern alone.
What can visitors do besides buy strawberries?
The documented record offers a fuller day than the fruit alone. Food and crafts vendors line the downtown streets, live music is part of the encyclopedia’s core description, and a guide layer adds a Strawberry Shuffle 5k fun run held on festival day. The same layer records a Strawberry Festival Beauty Pageant dated April 8 in its year, suggesting the celebration has at times extended beyond the single Saturday.
Is the Castleberry Strawberry Festival still being held?
The honest answer is that the question is open. An older festival directory cautions that the festival appears to have stopped being held after about 2018 and that its compiler could find nothing current. The Encyclopedia of Alabama, updated in December 2025, nevertheless describes it in the present tense as an annual event on the third Saturday in April. The research found no dated 2025 or 2026 edition, so the festival is best treated as a documented annual tradition whose current status a traveller must confirm locally.
What to Expect From the Next Conecuh County Alabama Strawberry Festival
How often is Conecuh County Alabama Strawberry Festival held?
The strongest source in the record, the Encyclopedia of Alabama’s Castleberry entry as updated in December 2025, describes the Castleberry Strawberry Festival as an annual event: one edition each spring, occupying a single April Saturday. Readers should hold that description alongside the directory layer’s caution about the festival’s recent years, since the two layers are recorded unmerged here.
When is the next Conecuh County Alabama Strawberry Festival?
No dated next edition appears in the sources checked, and this article will not invent one. The documented pattern points to the third Saturday in April as the traditional slot, illustrated by the April 15 and April 20 dates in older guide layers. Anyone hoping to attend should watch for an announcement from Castleberry or Conecuh County sources, treating the April pattern as the place to look rather than a promise.
Will the dates change?
They could, and this record shows why caution is wise. The documented dates already shift within the April pattern, April 15 in one guide year and April 20 in the 2024 layer, because the third Saturday moves against the calendar each year. Small-town organisers also adjust for weather and harvest timing. Note the traditional slot, then confirm the actual date for any specific year before travelling.
The Castleberry Strawberry Festival endures in the record as what its town would want it to be: a spring Saturday built around the fruit that earned Castleberry its 1987 declaration. Its sources leave one question genuinely open, whether the tradition is currently active, and this article leaves it open too, while setting down what the record does prove: the pattern, the place, and the ingredients of a small town that organised its identity around a strawberry.
