The 21st Annual Olive Festival features treats, crafts and entertainment

On October 5th and 6th the olives have their place in the sun. Attendees to this year’s 21st Olive Festival in Mission San Jose will meet dozens of local artisans and fine food purveyors to celebrate the olive, an important California crop with roots dating back more than 200 years.

The festival, a project of the Mission San Jose Chamber of Commerce, was first celebrated in 2001 and features live entertainment, arts and crafts, children’s activities and more. New this year is an exhibition of classic cars.

Chamber of Commerce board member Sylvia Rodriguez says a key goal of the festival is to “promote community engagement with small craft businesses,” a goal that is consistent with the Chamber’s mission statement, which is “to create, improve and promote business activities and the promotion of civic progress” and the preservation and maintenance of the historic Mission San Jose district of Fremont.”

The expected number of visitors is 500 to 600 people per day. Proceeds from the event support the annual Christmas Tree Lighting and the Spring Art Mosaic Fair, both Chamber of Commerce productions. Longtime board member Valerie Tavares says “more vendors are expected this year than ever before.”

Olives have been a staple of Mediterranean life for thousands of years, and oil was an important trading component of the Greek and Roman civilizations. However, olives are also suitable for more than oil. Festival-goers can look forward to handcrafted soaps, skin care products, candles and olive wood products to take home.

Technically, olives are a fruit grown in 41 different countries. Although Italy is perhaps the country most associated with olive oil today, Spain is actually the leading producer. Almost 167,000 tons were exported in the first quarter of 2023.

The Spanish are also responsible for the fact that there are olive trees in the Bay Area today. The Spanish brought cuttings to Peru in the mid-16th century; Eventually, Franciscan monks brought olives north as they established missions, with the first California trees planted at Mission San Diego in 1769.

The location of the event, the olive grove of Mission San Jose, was already in bloom when the Dominican nuns arrived in 1891. It was the Ohlone people who had planted the 334 trees decades earlier under the leadership of the Franciscan brothers. In 1894 the sisters began harvesting olives and processing the oil. Today there are about 200 trees left, the largest remaining mission-era olive grove in California.

The sisters still harvest their olives themselves with the help of local volunteers, but a partnership with the Sciabica family of Modesto has made their job easier and expanded their production. Since 2000, the Sciabicas, who produce their own olive oil, vinegars and food products, have taken over the pressing, storage, bottling, labeling and delivery of the Dominican Sisters’ olive oil.

Not only will the sisters’ olive oil be available, but also their famous honey. Sister Evangelista Grisez began keeping bees in the motherhouse in the 1930s. Today, the bees not only produce the much-lauded and delicious “Holy Honey,” but also help pollinate the Mission Motherhouse’s 5,000-square-foot vegetable and community garden.

If you have never visited the Mission, don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate California history and a beautiful day at the Olive Grove – please leave your pets at home.

Entertainment program

Saturday, October 5th

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – DJ Alex

10am – Indian dancers

11am – Taiko drumming

12 p.m. – dream fulfiller

1 to 3 p.m. – The Canyon Band.

Sunday, October 6th

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – DJ Alex

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Indian dancers

1 to 3 p.m. – The Canyon Band.

21st Annual Mission San Jose Olive Festival

Saturday, Oct. 5th – Sunday, Oct. 6th

10 a.m. – 5 p.m

Mission San Jose

43326 Mission Blvd., Fremont

(Behind the historic old mission)

Street parking and limited on-site parking

Free admission