Weather doesn't stop Mandarin Festival's Roseville debut

Neither rain nor wind nor cold weather could stop the 31st annual Mountain Mandarin Festival from enjoying a successful weekend, its first @the Grounds in Roseville following several years at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn. "The Grounds are absolutely spectacular," longtime Mandarin Festival Executive Director Gary Gilligan said Monday. "We're excited to return to the Grounds in 2025." Gilligan championed the effort of @the Grounds staff for emptying the garbage often and keeping the bathrooms clean. "They had so many people around and it was really good. Guests were impressed with the Grounds," Gilligan said. "The biggest comment was how nice the bathrooms were." Guests were also impressed with the selection of vendors, who "did really well" on Friday, according to Gilligan, despite the atmospheric river storm that pummeled the area with rain and toppled 19 EZ-Ups. Gilligan described Saturday's crowd as "decent," with the rain stopping about 12:30 p.m. and the sun reappearing. Sunday's crowd was large under a sunshine sky. "It was just an absolutely beautiful day," Gilligan said. With the Mandarin Festival moving down the hill from Auburn, Gilligan said there were several first-time visitors who learned of the event from advertising or TV and, "They love mandarins so they came out." He also ran into longtime festival-goers who have been to the festival "10 times." Gilligan placed the Artists Village in the barn and said he "wasn't so sure" how it would work with the barn being on the opposite side but, "The Artists Village was packed, and they killed it." Also, Side Hill Citrus Mandarins of Newcastle won its first honor as Best Tasting Mandarin, and Sierra College student Emma Lindholdt won the Best Dessert and was the overall recipe contest winner.