Texas Citrus Festival

It's January in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and while the rest of North America shivers in the winter cold, the valley is shining with the glow, fragrance and warmth of sweet ruby red grapefruit, succulent oranges and juicy lemons. Texas produces and provides the world with more than 10 million pounds of citrus per year, a true cause for celebration. In honor of this great feat, Mission, Texas annually hosts the Texas Citrus Fiesta which involves three days of fun, generally held the last weekend in January.

This years festival will be held Jan. 21-23 and will include a carnival, live music, ethnic foods, the coronation of Queen and duchesses and the unique Parade of Oranges. The Parade of Oranges is definitely one of the most unique parades in the country and definitely the best smelling! The elaborately decorated floats, and costumes must be covered with at least 90% Valley fruits and vegetables. Don't miss the costumes from previous years on display at the Mission Historical Society.

One of the highlights of the event is the coronation of the Texas Citrus Fiesta Royal Court where you can witness the pageantry and excitement and crowning of the new "King Citrus."

The festival even features dresses and colorful costumes made of oranges. Yes! Oranges are just one of the many local products that contestants use in the design of costumes for the Product Costume Style Show. Then the annual Parade of Oranges features floats covered with Oranges and varied agricultural products grown in the Rio Grande Valley. The parade is enjoyed by over 100,000 spectators from the United States, Mexico and Canada, making this a truly international event.Floats built by civic organizations, churches, businesses and schools parade down Conway Avenue in Mission for your enjoyment.

If you are an avid runner or an early bird who likes to be in the action, then sign up for the annual Fiesta Fun Run. What could be better than a brisk run for fun before the Parade of Oranges?

The first recorded planting of citrus in the valley was in 1882 by Don Macedonio Vela and while his first attempts failed, the seedling of an idea for a citrus industry was born. Success finally came in 1908 and Texas first orange orchard was established by Charles Volz. In 1934 the Ruby Red grapefruit was patented, eventually becoming the state fruit and the industry grew.

While much progress was made in growing techiniques some things throughout history have not changed. Primarily, the harvesting of the citrus crops. All Texas citrus crops are harvested by hand as mechanical harvesters are believed to damage the fruit and the trees...the Texas difference and you can tell it in the produce!

So come and grab some liquid sunshine, tropical Texas weather and a bit of

Texas history and culture at the Texas Citrus Fiesta.

Photos courtesy of Texas Citrus Fiesta

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