Festival
Bred by the University of Florida (2000) from Rosa Linda × Oso Grande. In Indian trials it gave the best yield in Bihar (355.04 g a plant at Sabour, 15.26 t/ha in Supaul), the second best in Himachal (29.76 and 35.24 t/ha) and the biggest berries there (14.94 and 16.75 g).
Quick facts
- Crop
- Strawberry
- Type
- Runner plant (tissue-culture / certified)
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- ~150–170 days
- Expected yield
- 355.04 g a plant at Sabour, Bihar; 15.26 t/ha in Supaul, Bihar; 29.76 and 35.24 t/ha in the Himachal mid-hills; 169.0 g a plant in the Assam hills.
- Suitable soil
- Well-drained sandy loam rich in organic matter, pH 5.7–6.5
- Disease resistance
- No specific resistance claimed
- Release
- Bred and released by the University of Florida in 2000
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Festival was bred by the University of Florida and released in 2000 from the cross Rosa Linda × Oso Grande. The UF/IFAS fact sheet describes medium-sized, broad-conic, deep-red fruit with firm flesh, and a fruiting period from mid-December to March. The sources we reached do not call it day-neutral, and they do not give its day-length class. In Bihar it was the best of three varieties at Sabour, with 355.04 g a plant, and the largest fruit, 3.93 cm. In Supaul district it gave 15.26 t/ha, the best there. In the Himachal mid-hills it came second to Chandler, with 29.76 and 35.24 t/ha, and its berries were the biggest and the firmest, 14.94 and 16.75 g. In the Assam hills it gave 169.0 g a plant, 14.68 g a berry and the earliest first harvest of three varieties.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Festival if you farm in the Bihar plains or the hills and want large, firm berries and a good yield: 355.04 g a plant at Sabour, 15.26 t/ha in Supaul, 29.76 and 35.24 t/ha in Himachal. Do not choose it if sweetness is your selling point: in the Assam hills its TSS was 7.00 °Brix, below Chandler (7.80) and Sweet Charlie (7.92). Choose Sweet Charlie for sweetness, and plant on 1 November rather than 1 December in Bihar.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeBihar (BAU Sabour): Festival and Sweet Charlie did better with 1 November planting than with 1 December. Assam hills: 15 November was the best of four dates across varieties.
- Spacing30×30 cm on raised beds 1–1.2 m wide, through black plastic mulch
- FertilizerFYM plus basal P and K at bed preparation; nitrogen split at ~3 weeks and at flowering, full potash at flowering (see the crop guide for the full schedule)
Pest & disease considerations
Major diseases
Major pests
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Best yield of three varieties at Sabour, Bihar (355.04 g a plant) and 15.26 t/ha in Supaul.
- Biggest and firmest berries in the Himachal trial: 14.94 and 16.75 g.
- Second to Chandler in Himachal (29.76 and 35.24 t/ha), and earliest first harvest of three in the Assam hills.
Things to consider
- Lower TSS (7.00 °Brix) and higher acidity (0.65%) than Chandler and Sweet Charlie in the Assam hills.
- Not an ICAR release. Buy certified runners each year.
- Planting date matters: in Bihar Festival did better with 1 November planting than with 1 December.
Suitable regions
An imported American cultivar, not an ICAR release, grown in Mahabaleshwar and trialled successfully in warmer eastern states such as Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
- Maharashtra
- Odisha
- Chhattisgarh
Plant on 1 November, not 1 December
In a BAU Sabour trial (2012–13) the planting date moved the result as much as the variety did. Winter Dawn, Festival and Sweet Charlie were planted on 15 October, 1 November, 15 November and 1 December. 1 November gave the most fruits and the highest yield a plant. 1 December gave the least growth and the least fruit.
For Festival this was the date of its best result, 355.04 g a plant. Festival and Sweet Charlie did better on 1 November. Winter Dawn did best on 15 October.
So if you are in Bihar or a similar plain, mark 1 November on the calendar when you order runners. Ask the nursery for delivery in the last week of October. Late runners planted in December pay for themselves less, whatever the variety.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This crop is multiplied from runners — the trailing shoots that root where they touch the ground. You can raise your own plants from healthy mother plants, but runners carry virus and crown rot forward, so most growers buy fresh, certified runners every year or two rather than planting on from their own indefinitely.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Strawberry variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camarosa | A firm, dark-red berry for farmers in hills and cooler plains, planted where its record is good, not assumed to be the highest yielder | ~150–170 days | 245.2 g a plant in Meghalaya, 540 g (21.65 t/ha) at Mahabaleshwar. Results differ by place. | Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi |
| Chandler | The proven hill-and-cool-plain strawberry, chosen for its record in Himachal and Assam trials rather than for earliness | ~150–170 days | 35.10 and 40.08 t/ha in the Himachal mid-hills (2012, 2013); 186.8 g a plant in the Assam hills. | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana |
| Festivalthis page | The large-berried, high-yielding strawberry for the Bihar plains and the hills, chosen for berry size and yield, not for sweetness | ~150–170 days | 355.04 g a plant at Sabour, Bihar; 15.26 t/ha in Supaul, Bihar; 29.76 and 35.24 t/ha in the Himachal mid-hills; 169.0 g a plant in the Assam hills. | Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh |
| Nabila | A sweet, large-fruited berry for Mahabaleshwar-type conditions, chosen for TSS and weight per plant, with a thin Indian trial record | ~150–170 days | 735 g a plant (29.42 t/ha) at Mahabaleshwar, 2016; 850–900 g a plant in the Italian patent. | Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh |
| Sweet Charlie | The sweet, early-flowering berry sold on taste, planted for TSS and berry count rather than for the heaviest bed | ~140–160 days | 182.4 g a plant in the Assam hills (at par with Chandler); 22.48 berries a plant at Sabour, Bihar. Berries are small. | Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi |
| Winter Dawn | The vigorous early planter: a heavy-fruiting winter berry for Maharashtra and Bihar, chosen for fruits per plant and an early start | ~150–170 days | 820 g a plant (32.97 t/ha), 39.20 fruits of 21.00 g at Mahabaleshwar, 2016 | Maharashtra |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Strawberry is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Strawberry plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Strawberry variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Strawberry into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Strawberry rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Strawberry seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
What does "day-neutral" mean for Festival, and why does it matter in India?
Most classic strawberry varieties are "short-day" types that only flower once winter day-length drops below a threshold. Festival leans day-neutral, meaning it flowers and fruits reliably across a wider range of day-length and temperature, which is part of why it performs well not just in Mahabaleshwar but also in warmer eastern states like Odisha and Chhattisgarh where winters are milder and less sharply defined.
Is Festival a day-neutral strawberry?
The sources we reached do not say so. The UF/IFAS fact sheet gives Festival's parentage (Rosa Linda × Oso Grande), its 2000 release and a fruiting period from mid-December to March, but does not call it day-neutral. A claim that it leans day-neutral has no source. In practice, Indian farmers plant it in autumn, like the other winter varieties.
When should I plant Festival in Bihar?
At BAU Sabour (2012–13) Festival and Sweet Charlie did better with 1 November planting than with 1 December, which gave the least growth and yield. Winter Dawn did best on 15 October. Festival's best result, 355.04 g a plant, came with 1 November planting. Plant in the first week of November and keep the beds mulched and irrigated.
How big and firm are Festival berries?
In the Himachal trial Festival had the longest berries (42.17 and 43.90 mm), the maximum berry weight (14.94 and 16.75 g) and the firmest berries. At Sabour, Bihar, it had the largest fruit, 3.93 cm, at par with Winter Dawn. The UF fact sheet calls the fruit medium-sized and firm. Big and firm berries suit a farmer who sells at a distance.
How does Festival compare with Sweet Charlie?
Festival gives more weight; Sweet Charlie gives more berries and more sweetness. At Sabour, Festival yielded 355.04 g a plant. Sweet Charlie gave the most berries, 22.48 a plant, but the smallest fruit, and the highest TSS, sugar and vitamin C. In the Assam hills Festival gave 169.0 g and Sweet Charlie 182.4 g, with TSS 7.00 and 7.92 °Brix. Plant both and sell the sweet one by taste.
What yield can I expect from Festival?
It depends on the place and the year. Trials gave 355.04 g a plant at Sabour, 15.26 t/ha in Supaul, 29.76 and 35.24 t/ha in Himachal, and 169.0 g a plant in the Assam hills. Plant spacing also differs between the trials. Use the figure from the place nearest to you, and expect less in your first year.
Sourced from: Performance of strawberry varieties in different planting environments, Strawberry farming in India: top varieties, cultivation & profit, Effect of planting dates on plant growth, yield and quality in strawberry varieties in subtropics of eastern India — Indian J. Agric. Sci. 87(12), 2017 (BAU Sabour), Evaluation of strawberry cultivars, Supaul district, Bihar — Asian J. Hort. (Das et al.), Comparative performance of strawberry cultivars under mid-hill conditions of north-western Himalayas — Indian J. Hort. 71(3), 2014, 'Strawberry Festival' strawberry — UF/IFAS fact sheet HS1199. editorial policy.