Festival of Fruit 2026 Speakers and Presentations
Meet the 2026 Festival of Fruit speakers covering Eugenia & Syzygium growing, climate-smart strategies, pest control, and various fruits. As you scroll down, you will see who is speaking, what they will be presenting and what time that presentation will be happening on June 13th.
Festival of Fruit 2026 Keynote Speaker – Steven Murray
Presenting: Eugenia Fruits And Beyond: Tales from the Fields Around The World
Fascinating Eugenias and Syzygiums I’ve encountered, including a notable Pitanga tree from the late Roger Meyer’s collection with exceptionally large fruit.
Keynote Presentation Time: June 13th 8:45 am
Steven Murray – bio:
Steven Murray earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Cal Poly Pomona, majoring in Plant Science with a focus on Chinese language studies. He currently manages the Farmers Market Department at Murray Family Farms in Bakersfield, California.
An avid world traveler and fruit explorer, Steven has visited 125 countries across every continent except Antarctica in search of rare and unique fruit varieties. He cultivates a diverse collection of more than 2,000 varieties and has tasted approximately 6,000 different fruit species throughout his life. His collection began with Eugenia varieties, including Pitanga and Cherry of the Rio Grande.
Steven is a member of the International Horticultural Society, a lifetime member of the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG), and participates in Sister City organizations. He was voted Santa Monica’s “Most Loved Farmer” and sells fruit there every Wednesday. He can also be found in Bakersfield at the Big Red Barn Fruit Stand at Murray Family Farms.
A polyglot, Steven speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese, and has studied French, Italian, Romanian, Japanese, and several other languages.
Festival of Fruit 2026 Dinner Speaker – David Karp “Fruit Detective”
The Big Issues of Fruit Breeding
That’s an ambitious title, but David Karp is one of the few researchers who could interweave the strands of globalization, privatization, dual-track nomenclature, new breeding methods, and consolidation to discuss topics such as: Is fruit breeding good for the public? What are the meanings of “hybrid”? Does the private control of new varieties and technologies serve the public? Why do new varieties have two names, an official denomination and a trade name, and what are the implications? Why has the invention of new varieties, and the commercial production of fruit, shifted so quickly from the United States to other countries in recent decades? How will the coming of new CRISPR-obtained varieties affect the fruit landscape? Will private gardeners have access to elite varieties in the future?
David Karp is a researcher with the Dept. of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside; co-editor of the Register of New Fruit and Nut Cultivars; author of the Modern Citrus Cultivars Descriptive Database; partners with Andy Mariani in Xanadu Orchards LLC, which farms 20 acres of stone fruit in Morgan Hill, CA; Secretary of the American Pomological Society; a member of UPOV’s Technical Working Party for Fruit Crops; and a longtime member of CRFG. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, cat, dog, and pomological library.
David Karp
Co-editor, Register of New Fruit and Nut Cultivars
Secretary, American Pomological Society
Assistant Specialist, Department of Botany & Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside
Tel. (310) 472-4990
[email protected]
Evening Workshop – Wednesday June 10th 2026 from 8:00 PM – to 9 PM
Nohad S.
Dragonfruit Pollination at Night
Join us for an informative, hands on workshop at Nohad’s. Her 70 dragonfruit plants will offer exciting blooms for us to practice pollinating. In addition, learn what Nohad has discovered over the years, and find out which cultivars profit from cross pollination and which aren’t particular.
