Festival PRESS/Info About the Festival Entertainment Line-up Festival FAQs History of the Vine Vendor List Press Kit Special Wistaria Postmark Cancellation Press Release Emergency Communications Team to Assist with Logistics at Wistaria Festival This Year's Sponsors
Wistaria Vine Shuttle Tickets Available Now!! Click to Order Safely & Securely Online, - print your tickets on your home or office computer...
This website is designed and  maintained by SierraMadreNews.Net, not the Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce. The Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce is not affiliated with SierraMadreNews.Net and is not responsible for any coverage that we post. Any Wistaria Festival information provided herein  is shown here as a public service of SierraMadreNews.Net without explicit permission of the Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce, which annually puts on the festival.
Click photo to enlarge Scroll down for General Wistaria Coverage and Archives	Click photo to enlarge Sierra Madre's 2010 Wistaria Festival Coming Sunday, March 14, 2010 Above photo from 2007 Festival
Festival Sponsors Brugman Sponsors 2010 Host Hotel Arcadia Association of REALTORS® Arcadia Gardens Retirement Hotel Grand Pacific Resorts Southern California Edison DoubleTree Hotel,  Monrovia Reduced Wistaria Festival room rates available, ask for Group Name: Wistaria Festival  Complimentary shuttle service from the hotel to the Wistaria Festival will be provided. (626) 357-1900
2010 Wistaria Festival Sponsorships Still Available, click here for more info

Video of photos from 2007 Festival

Webmaster's note: I actually shot this photo in my backyard. It is not part of the famous vine. For those pictures, see above. Statistics (Estimates) 1.5 million luxuriant lavender blossoms 250 tons More than one acre in size 500 foot branches 40 blossoms per sq. foot Growth rate (per various experts) from 24" in 24 hours to 26" in 48 hours Named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest blossoming plant in the world Named one of the seven horticultural wonders of the world, along with the redwood forest in Sequoia National Park, Brazil's tropical jungle in the Amazon Valley, Mexico's Xochimilco floating gardens, India's gardens of the Taj Mahal, Japan's Yokohama rock gardens, and the gardens of Buckingham Palace

Wistaria is commonly spelled either wistaria or wisteria, but since it was named in 1818 for Caspar Wistar of the University of Pennsylvania to honor his contributions to science, it probably is properly Wistaria. Sierra Madre's vine was planted by William and Alice Brugman. According to a letter from the Brugman's daughter, Emily Brugman Childs, it was originally purchased from the old Wilson Nursery in Monrovia in a gallon can for $ .75 in 1894. The vine is of the Chinese lavender variety. It is a member of the pea family, even though its seeds resemble beans (shiny, flat and black). The seeds are said to have been brought to Europe by Marco Polo in the 13th century as prized treasures from the Orient. H.T. Fennel bought the house in 1913, and built extra arbors to support it so it could cover the house. Photographs from the 1930s show that it did just that; eventually the roof collapsed and the house was torn down in 1931. The arbors were retained, and a new house was built 200 feet away. In 1918, 12,000 people attended the first public Wistaria Festival. In the 1930s, a 6-week Wistaria event took place, with more than 100,000 people making the trip to see the vine. Extra "Red Cars" were put on the Pacific Electric route to Sierra Madre to handle the crowds. In the 1940s and again in the 1960s, at considerable expense, the vine required horticultural restoration, dry ice packs, three foot hypodermic needles with Vitamin B, hormone shots and more. Through the years the vine has had many nicknames, among them Glorified Bean, Jack's Beanstalk, Queen of the San Gabriels, Lavender Lady, Sierra Madre's Treasure, and the Monster.  The Sierra Madre City Council proclaimed 1994 as the Centennial Year of the Wistaria.

The 2010 Wistaria Vine Festival To Bring Thousands to Sierra Madre to See the

World's Largest Blossoming Plant 

Art and Garden Faire features 150+ Artisans

WHAT                   Viewing of Wistaria Vine: Annual Wistaria Festival and Village celebration; World’s largest blossoming plant          

WHEN                   March 14, 2010

                                                Vine viewing:                      9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

                                                Art & Garden Faire:             9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

WHERE                 Sierra Madre

East of Pasadena, northwest of Arcadia

Take Foothill freeway (210) to Baldwin Avenue off-ramp;

Go north one mile to Sierra Madre Boulevard for

Festivities, shuttle buses, information and parking.

Mapquest Map

Limited handicapped parking on the southeast corner of Baldwin and Montecito.  Baldwin  Ave. north will be closed at Sierra Madre Blvd., so make a right, go to the first stop at Mountain Trail, go north (left) to Montecito, go left to Baldwin.

HOW                      For updated Wistaria Festival info., call 626-355-5111.  For Wistaria Festival related questions, e-mail Wistaria Festival

                              Tickets:  Required to enter vine-viewing grounds.  Shuttle ticket serves as entry ticket, if not riding shuttle, walk-in ticket is required.

• Advance reservations required; tickets limited

• Shuttle buses (optional; however, walk is one mile uphill, between downtown Sierra Madre and Wistaria Vine). 

• Order Shuttle Tickets Online

• $10/person pre-sale, $15 per person day of event; age 5 and under free (price is the same, whether you go one way or round trip, no refunds or exchanges)

• Make check payable to Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce

• Include check with your request for vine-viewing tickets

• State your preferred hour between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., as well as an alternate time;

  Send a self-addressed envelope (#10) with adequate postage, to

“Wistaria Tickets,”

Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce,

37 N. Auburn Ave., Ste. 1, Sierra Madre, CA  91024 

Note:      Grounds are on private property; access incompatible for people with limited mobility; call 626-355-5111 for more information.   Wheelchairs, strollers not allowed.

Tour Groups: Contact the Chamber at 626-355-5111 for procedure.

WHAT ELSE?      FESTIVITIES in downtown Sierra Madre (near shuttles):

• Art & Garden Faire, 150 juried artisans, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Village restaurants featuring indoor and outdoor dining

• Student art sale at the Creative Arts Group

• Live music featuring 24 musical acts in 6 outdoor locations

• Special Wistaria Festival US Postal Stamp cancellation

• Some of Sierra Madre's historic sites - Lizzie's Trail Inn, E. Waldo Wards, the Richardson House,

• Memorial Park Fun ‘n Food

• Free Gateway Coach shuttle from Gold Line (Sierra Madre Villa Station) to and from Sierra Madre

Local Accommodations

Sierra Madre 5-Day Advance Weather Forecast

Local Dining