BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — “Well garden fest is an open house community oriented event for Bakersfield and so it's bringing people together with a love for the gardens,” said Professor of Ornamental Horticulture Lindsay Ono.

“Here we’ve had food trucks, we've had a farmers market, we have just different games and organizations that are talking about their causes,” Ono added.

The Kern County chapter of California Women for Agriculture was there.

“Each chapter gives back to their community in different ways, we do Ag scholarships for students that are pursuing their career education in Ag. So we try to give back,” said Wendy Flowers, President of the Kern County California Women for Agriculture.

The Bakersfield College ASL club was also there.

“Our goal is to want people to know that ASL is part of being human, is part of our culture so it is a very important language. Our goal is to change how people look at us, no one looks down at us, and treats us as humans,” signed Jerome Lagaya, ASL instructor.

Attendee Bobby had a great time participating in a crafting project.

“I made this, I made this spider over there, it's like a kids thing. I got a slushy, it's just so much fun here,” Bobby said.

Cal Water was there talking about their incentive programs.

It's called a lawn to garden program at Cal Water. It’s offered to both commercial and residential customers, and the program is to promote water conservation,” Rafael Molina, the Assistant District Manager for the California Water Service in Bakersfield said.

“The program involves, is if you turn your lawn your garden into more drought tolerant garden, install artificial turf, you can get reimbursed for some money back,” Molina added.

Ono said it felt great to hold the event for the first time since 2019.

“It's great to get back to a normal cycle again and getting out in the sunshine, it's just a gorgeous day here in Bakersfield.”