The 27th Annual Morongo Basin Orchid Festival at Gubler’s Orchids is today (October 7) and tomorrow (October 8).
Chris Gubler of Gubler Orchids stopped by Z1077 to chat with Gary Daigneault about this year’s festival. In addition to letting plant lovers tour the orchid facility, the event is a major fundraiser for Morongo Basin non-profits, who are invited to set up booths outside of the nursery.
“The goal of the festival is to have these non-profits showcase what they do. And so every purchase that you make, you get a rotary buck. These rotary bucks are basically a vote for the non-profits. We tabulate that, and the top three vote-getters get a majority of the proceeds. And then we take the rest of those, and we guarantee a dollar for every rotary buck, but really its more than that.”
The event has also become known as a food and drink destination, with orchid beer a novel and popular beverage available only at the Orchid Festival.
“Dario at Joshua Tree Brewing, challenged me to have an orchid that he could brew beer with, so we did the Sherry Baby Beer, and it was a huge hit. There was a huge line to get the beer, it was phenomenal. And their generosity is tremendous. For every orchid beer sold, all those proceeds go to the non-profits as well.
The festival is Saturday, October 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, October 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2200 Belfield Blvd. in Landers. Admission and parking are free.
