Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Poppy Festival Aims to Draw Visitors Back Into Altadena’s Recovering Businesses

[photo credit: Pasadena Jaycees Foundation]

The Pasadena Jaycees are organizing a free April 18 event with a passport booklet, a scenic route and local shops still rebuilding after the Eaton Fire

A free festival on April 18 will hand visitors a passport booklet and send them on a route through Altadena, stamping their way through local businesses that have struggled to draw customers since the Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,400 structures 15 months ago.

The Great Altadena Poppy Festival, organized by the Pasadena Jaycees, pairs the passport-booklet stops at participating Altadena businesses with a scenic drive through poppy fields that have replaced the fire’s burn scars — the product of 250 million California poppy seeds sowed by one Altadena resident across more than 750 damaged properties. Organizers say the goal is to get customers back in the door at businesses that have lost foot traffic since the January 2025 fire. Admission is free.

The festival kicks off at Grocery Outlet, 2270 Lake Ave. in Altadena, where participants pick up their passport booklet. From there, festival-goers visit participating businesses along the route, collecting stamps at each stop. Participating businesses include Fair Oaks Burger, Webster’s Community Pharmacy and the Altadena Chamber of Commerce, according to a Pasadena Jaycees press release. Visitors who complete the full route are eligible for prizes.

The event grew from the Great Altadena Poppy Project, launched by Altadena resident René Amy, a longtime Pasadena Jaycees volunteer who lost his home in the Eaton Fire. Beginning in late 2025, Amy sowed California poppy seeds — eventually totaling 250 million — across fire-damaged lots throughout Altadena. More than 750 property owners signed up to have their land seeded, according to Pasadena Now. The first flowers began blooming earlier this year on the lot where Amy’s own home once stood.

“Folks don’t need to worry about Altadena being forgotten,” Amy said in a statement provided by the Jaycees. “I expect that we will draw attention from around the globe when our community is once again awash with native wildflower blooms. What better way to say we love Altadena than with flowers?”

The Pasadena Jaycees, a volunteer and leadership organization for young professionals founded in 1929, stepped in to build the festival around Amy’s project and recruit local businesses as participants.

“The Pasadena Jaycees have been part of this community for nearly a century, and we believe in showing up when it matters most,” said Shawn Sauerwein, executive vice president of the Pasadena Jaycees, in a statement. “Supporting René and the Altadena community in this effort is truly an honor.”

The Eaton Fire began on January 7, 2025, near Eaton Canyon and spread rapidly through Altadena, driven by Santa Ana winds. Cal Fire’s final damage assessment counted 9,418 structures destroyed. Fair Oaks Burger, one of the festival’s participating businesses, was one of the few structures on its block of Fair Oaks Avenue to survive the fire, according to LAist. Webster’s Community Pharmacy, which has served Altadena since 1926, according to the pharmacy, reopened at a new location after the fire.

The Great Altadena Poppy Festival is free and open to the public on Saturday, April 18. Those interested may RSVP at pasadenajaycees.org/poppy. For more information about the Pasadena Jaycees, visit pasadenajaycees.org or email info@pasadenajaycees.org.

Poppy blooms are already visible across Altadena’s former burn zone. Amy told Pasadena Now that even the flowers alone have made a difference. “If all the poppies and all the poppy seeds somehow instantly disappeared from Altadena,” he said, “the net result would still be a win because it helped to make people feel good, feel that someone actually cares and that someone is actually taking positive steps to get it done.”