I’ve been gathering old photographs and festival posters, and with each one, another memory comes back. The friends who stood beside me. The people who believed in an idea. And the joy of sharing what lavender had brought into my own life.
I still remember how nervous I was when I stood before the Paso Robles City Council in 2008 to pitch the idea of a lavender festival. I could see the possibility so clearly. Finding the courage to explain it was another matter.
And of course, my dear, sweet friend Norma Moye—the heart of downtown Paso Robles and founder of the Paso Robles Main Street Association. Without her, none of this would have been possible. She held me up when I was so nervous to share the idea, and helped bring it to life.
Looking back through these old posters, I see one chapter of those twenty years: a personal love of lavender becoming something I could share with others.
When there was so little guidance
We began with a patch of lavender for me personally. I never intended to build a business. As I shared in my last post, lavender had become part of how I cared for myself. The business came later.
At the time, there were only a few lavender farms in California and very little guidance available. As I learned to grow lavender and understand it more deeply, I felt called to share that knowledge. I wanted others to know its possibilities and to have somewhere to turn with their questions.
Here in Paso Robles, I saw possibilities in our Mediterranean climate and the region’s relationship with wine grapes and olives. Lavender belonged in that conversation about growing, making, and bringing people closer to the land.
In an effort to give back to what had helped me, I founded the Central Coast Lavender Growers Association—CCLGA—to help share that knowledge and bring people together. Working with the Paso Robles Main Street Association, we created the festival. Seeing CCLGA’s name on these posters still means a great deal to me.
Our first festival in 2009 drew over 7,000 people—so much more than we had imagined.
We also brought downtown restaurants into the celebration, inviting them to cook and serve all things lavender. The idea was to bring downtown into the festival, making lavender something people could experience with all their senses.
The dream of arriving by train
One of my proudest memories as festival co-chair was landing Amtrak as our title sponsor.
Yes, Amtrak.
I had dreamed of bringing people into Paso Robles by train to celebrate lavender. And boy, did they come. What had begun as an idea I was nervous to present was becoming something people would travel to experience.
Amtrak remained our title sponsor for many, many years. I had the pleasure of managing the Amtrak sponsorship for many, many years. Along the way, I met some incredible people who remain friends to this day. Its place on these early posters brings me right back to the excitement of that time.
A few of the posters, and the memories they hold
Artist Laure F. Carlisle created beautiful watercolors that became artwork for our festival posters. Those paintings were such a lovely part of the festival’s identity.
The archive below gathers a few of the many posters from those years, including that watercolor artwork. The Central Coast Lavender Growers Association’s name or logo appears on every poster shown—a part of this history I want to keep visible.
These are selected posters from 2009 through 2019. The festival did not take place in 2020 because of the shutdown.
Passing the purple torch
As the festival grew, so did the community of lavender farms in California and across the country. Eventually, a handful of lavender farms back east reached out to me. Those conversations led to the steering committee that founded the United States Lavender Growers Association.
As its founding vice president and education & membership co-chair, I was thrilled to help build awareness and share what I had learned. I wanted to help make the lavender dream possible for people across the United States and abroad.
Over the years, I have mentored dozens and dozens of growers and lavender farms. I still work with many of them today. Watching those people develop their farms, find their own direction, and share their knowledge has been one of the great joys of this work.
I feel a bit like a proud mama to the Paso Robles Lavender Festival and the United States Lavender Growers Association. Watching them grow and become successful has filled my heart more than I ever could have dreamed.
If there is one thing I love more than lavender itself, it is the gift it gives so many when offered with intention and a good heart. The way it should be.
Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing more of these memories with you—the people, the lessons, and the possibilities that have come from living with lavender. I hope you’ll come along. Perhaps something in my story will help you begin a little chapter of your own.
An invitation to talk
Sharing my passion for lavender has always been at the heart of this work, and I’d like to invite you to come along with me. I’m making time each week for a casual conversation with you—to share ideas, answer your questions, and pass along what years of living with lavender have taught me.
My hope is that this California lavender lifestyle brings you some of the joy it has brought to me and my family. Whether by phone or video, our time together is my gift to you.
It has always been about sharing what I’ve learned and helping preserve a beautiful dream.
With love and lavender, Lila.
