The original event was spearheaded by Barry and Rosetta Burgelin, the owners of Pine Mountain Service Center in Pine Mountain Club. The original festivals also incorporated a small car show for locals and visitors to show off their “hot rods” and “classic” cars. Each and every festival, until this year has had a parade to kick things off. The parade was originally directed through the village center in Pine Mountain Club, but because of the size of the event growing it soon was held on Mil Potrero Hwy (the only main road that runs through Pine Mountain Club). The car show also grew in popularity so there is now a separate event held on the first Saturday of August each summer.
The most unique items at the festivals are all the handmade crafts, clothing, sundries, food and much more. Many of the vendors at the festivals are local mountain residents showing off their talents, kind of a local “tradition” now and a real friendly competition between neighbors.
Weather in May is usually the first signs of warming from our cold mountain winters and flora and fauna are abundant. This includes, of course, all the lilac bushes and trees that have been planted in Pine Mountain Club. Although the actual blooming lilacs that are so popular in our culture are not a native plant, they thrive in the climate up here. What few people know is that there is an actual native bush in the California Mountain areas. The ones that grow up here are called “White Bark California Lilac”. This shrub has blue flower shoots and very sticky, fragrant leaves. More about these lilacs can be found here:
http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/ceanothus-leucodermis - there are many varieties of wild California Lilacs so don’t be surprised if you’ve seen others up here as well as these!
The festivals have grown in popularity so much over the years that vendors (as well as visitors) venture here from as far away as Nevada and Arizona each year. Thousands of people can be seen in and around Pine Mountain Club during a Lilac Festival weekend.