In 1982, The Peanuts characters came to life at Knott’s Berry Farm for the first time and in 1983 Camp Snoopy opened its doors to guests at Knott’s Berry Farm for the first time. With its luscious tree filled landscape, Camp Snoopy quickly became a fan favorite area of the park. It’s so odd to think of the days when Knott’s Berry Farm didn’t have Charlie Brown and his best friend Snoopy within its gates. To a certain extent, Snoopy has become an unofficial mascot of the park. In a more literal sense (because we were born in 1989), we simply cannot separate the two because we’ve never known one without the other. And for many other people, they can feel the exact same way. So that warmth we feel when watching our favorite Peanuts specials on tv, we get that same feeling when seeing our friends Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the whole Peanuts Gang at the park.

Fast forward to 2018 and Knott’s officially gave the Peanuts their own seasonal event with Peanuts Celebration. A family friendly event injected life at the park between January and March when there typically wouldn’t be anything at all. In 2022, this event has grown strong and continues to be a massive fan favorite of those who love the Peanuts characters and Knott’s. With fun live entertainment, delicious foods and special meet and greets; Knott’s completely transforms itself.

FOOD AND MERCH

Our favorite part of every Knott’s event is the food. Always imaginative and always delicious. 2022 Peanuts Celebration has so many treats and we tried to get as much as humanly possible to let you all know what we thought. To be completely honest, there wasn’t a bad piece of food we had all day. First up was Sally’s Strawberry Mocha and Linus’ Blondies. Both of these items were amazing. The Strawberry Mocha wasn’t overly sweet and the blondie was sweet but had a nice balance of flavors. You can find both of these at Charleston Circle Coffee, next to Cordy’s Corner.

Next up was our hands down favorite food item of the event. We would go back just to have this again. It was the Chicken Parm Grilled Cheese at Sutters in Ghost Town.

Just by name alone, how could you go wrong? It was cheesy and amazing. Not only that, but it was a substantial portion of food. Which isn’t typically a statement made about theme parks.

Next up was the Shermies Smoked Meat Sandwich at Boardwalk BBQ. This was our most anticpated item at the event and it was good. It just didn’t hit the notes we were hoping. Once again, it was a very generous helping of food. But we found the bread to just be too much. We eventually took it off and ate the meat with our side of mac and cheese. Some people like a ton of bread with their sandwiches, but we aren’t those type of people unfortunately. One thing I do have to say about the meat itself is that it was great quality and they stacked it high.

After a large portion of savory food, we needed something sweet in our lives and we had The Beagle’s Nutella and Banana Grilled Sandwich at Ghost Town Bakery. Put nutella on anything and we will come running. This wasn’t the only option at this location, you can also get Charlie Brown Nanaimo and The Great Pumpkin Tart. And for your information because we didn’t know it either but The Nanaimo bar is a bar dessert that requires no baking and is named after the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia.

This sandwich was the perfect amount of sweetness and the perfect amount of toasty bread. It honestly felt like something I could make at home and in the best way.

The last treat we had on our visit was the PB & J Churro bites. I think that if we had gotten some hot and fresh churros, these would be at the top of our list. But because the churros weren’t a great consistency we didn’t care for them much.

Of course it’s completely impossible to eat every single special food offering in one single visit. But there are so many amazing things we need to come back for! Check out all these amazing options!

It wouldn’t be a Knott’s event without some great merch to remember your visit. As usual, Knott’s has the amazing pin and t-shirt combo for a phenomenal price. Please tell us another park with that great deal…we are waiting! Not only is the price right, but it’s all so damn adorable. We are just shocked we didn’t see a Peanuts Celebration spirit jersey. Maybe that’s something they will have in future events.

ENTERTAINMENT

With each passing seasonal celebration at Knott’s, the amount of entertainment offerings become even more staggering. Almost to the point where it feels like you need more than one day to comfortably see it all. Peanuts Celebration is no different. On top of its typical entertainment offerings, Knott’s has curated a special set of entertainment offerings that focus on the Peanuts characters.

Something we love about the offerings is the variety. Although each and every piece of entertainment is family friendly, there is still something for everyone. For instance, you can take some time to learn how to draw your favorite character from the Peanuts cartoons. Or you can take a seat at the Calico Mine Stage and catch some musical numbers with “It’s Your Life” starring Charlie Brown and his friends. Over in Camp Snoopy you can catch “The Music Goes ‘Round and Around” on the Camp Snoopy Theater.

We’ve always talked about how we think Knott’s does the best in engaging kids and allowing them to use their hands to learn. I think it sometimes is easy to forget that it’s not always about the big stage shows, but sometimes the smaller more personal moments with characters. If you head over to Calico Park, you can find the Peanuts Cowboy Jamboree where Franklin and Linus are on a Western escapade as they transform into cowboys. They look to challenge guests with some of the rootinest, tootinest games in Calico.

Maybe you want to learn a little history about who created the Peanuts and how these simple characters grapple with some of life’s biggest questions and ideas. You can find “Take Care with Peanuts” within the Calico Town Hall.

Some of our favorite pieces of entertainment at Knott’s, is the kind you just happen upon and there is plenty of it at Peanuts Celebration. We talk about it all the time, but our favorite is K-NOT Radio on the Boardwalk. Unfortunately, during our visit we kept missing their sets. But we know from past experience that it undoubtedly brought silly humor and energy to the Boardwalk. We still think that K-NOT Radio is single handedly some of the best entertainment Knott’s has added to the park in a long time.

Then you also have the spontaneous entertainment of the musical variety. You can find The James Street Trio at Boardwalk BBQ playing popular music of Vince Guaraldi. If you’re unfamiliar with the name, you 100% know his music. He is the musician behind the iconic music of the Peanuts. This music alone conjures up memories of all the seasons because we were a Charlie Brown type of family. We watched all the seasonal specials and hearing the music throughout the park just made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

And of course, it wouldn’t be Peanuts Celebration without some great meet and greets with your favorite Peanuts characters and photo ops. This year, Marcie has joined the gang for the first time ever! It’s great to see the cast of Peanuts characters growing at the park.

If you find yourself in Ghost Town, you can head over to the Livery Stable to see Pig Pen’s Pig Pen. Here you can meet some of the animals that call the Farm home. You can also meet your messy pal Pig Pen! In year past, they actually had piglets running around in one of the areas of the stable. But they were sadly not there this year. Let’s hope they bring them back next year because they were damn cute and fit perfectly into the name.

Throughout the park, you’ll find so much Peanuts Celebration decorations. You can even find some really cute interactive photo ops and activities. Some of our favorites are the “Child to Teacher Translator” which makes you sound like the iconic teach character from the Peanuts cartoons and the silly word bubbles throughout the park.

These thought bubbles and word bubbles are hilarious because it almost feels like there is something for every moment.

As the sun sets over Knott’s, the high energy of live stage music completely takes over. Over in Wagon Camp, you can find the high energy antics of Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. When we were at the park, we saw The Mighty Tornadoes doing a medley of classic rock. Snag some delicious food, find a seat and enjoy some great music.

You can also catch Jelly of the Month Club on the Calico Main Stage with all your favorite Peanuts characters. While we were at the park, we saw Tomasina get the crowd pumped with a myriad of music that seemed to please the young and the young at heart. We aren’t massive fans of these types of shows, but man oh man does it bring so much energy and fun to the park at night. So many people had their hands in the air, rocking out to the music. It’s going to sound sappy, but it always puts a smile on our face when we see people having so much fun.

And last, but certainly not least you can head over to Fiesta Village for Spike’s Discoteca De Silencio. This is probably the most unique entertainment offering we’ve seen at Knott’s…or really any park. As you enter, you grab a pair of headphones and seat the music to a certain channel and dance the night away. The music is only heard by you and feels completely normal while dancing. But for those of us who don’t dance. We just see a ton of people dancing to absolutely no music. It’s so much fun and hysterical.

This is also where you can meet Spike, one of Snoopy’s many family members. What we loved is that Spike isn’t just a meet and greet. He is in there dancing along with all the guests.

OVERALL

There is something so special about Knott’s events. They always feel as though there is a level of honesty and love that goes into each and every aspect of the event. There is a warmth that is intangible that’s nearly impossible to compete with or describe for that matter. Maybe it’s the nostalgic love of the Peanuts? Maybe it’s feeling like a kid again while learning how to draw Snoopy? Either way, Knott’s has something so special with Peanuts Celebration. It’s another amazing seasonal event with a mix of history, interactive activities, shows, food and entertainment at an affordable price.

For more information regarding Peanuts Celebrations and how to buy tickets, CLICK HERE!