ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - Julie Andrews would have been proud taking in the sights at the annual Strauss Spring Tea festival, held at the District56 center on Saturday, March 8.  

The Spring Tea event is the main fundraiser of the year for the Strauss Festival, Elk Grove’s annual event at Elk Grove’s Regional Park. Nearly 300 people attended the Spring Tea,, which helps to generate funds for the costs to put on the festival in the summer. 

The Strauss Festival is held every year at Elk Grove’s Regional Park and features a choreographed stage production set to the music of Austrian composer Johann Strauss II. The theme for this year’s Spring Tea is centered around the 1964 Disney film “Mary Poppins,” and one of the film’s standout songs, “A Spoonful of Sugar.” 

“Because the Strauss Festival is nonprofit and we offer the performances completely free to the community, we rely on our donors and various types of funding to put the show on,” Festival Director Summer Mitchell said. “The show still costs money to put on, but we don’t charge for people to attend.”

The 36th annual festival will be held on July 24-28. 

Many of the attendees came to the event wearing Edwardian clothing to go with the feel for the theme. Some of the tables had themes that correlated with “Mary Poppins” with various references, ranging from the “Sister Suffragette” song and the “Spoonful of Sugar” song. Other tables had themes such as St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. 

The tables in the main hall left an open space for the Strauss dancers to perform at the center.

Tables were set up outside the main hall for a silent auction, with items ranging from wine to art supplies to pickleball equipment being auctioned.

Forty middle and high school students volunteered to serve meals for the attendees of the event.

For event attendee Kat Ledesma, the Strauss Spring Tea has been a tradition for her and her family. Her aunt was one of the table decorators and has attended the event several times. Ledesma said she liked the event being held at District56 and that one of the pros is the stage being in the center as opposed to being across the room when it was held at Laguna Town Hall. 

 “It is nice to see a new aspect of Elk Grove,” Ledesma said. “An area that I love and grew up in, especially in this beautiful area.”

Margie Jones, co-chairman for the Strauss Festival, noted that there were 28 tables set up to correlate with the “Mary Poppins” theme, and many people volunteer to decorate it and they bring their own dishes and silverware. 

“All we have is the table and the volunteers create everything around the theme,” Jones said. “It’s amazing what people do to create tables that are so lovely and unique.”

Strauss festival co-chairman Beth Hedlund said she was thankful for the community coming out to the event because they helped raise the funds for the upcoming festival and wants it to be fun for families.

“We work really hard to maintain the family-friendly themes,” Hedlund said.

The Strauss Festival will be held July 24-28 in Elk Grove Regional Park. For more information, go to straussfestival.com.