BURLINGTON — Ahhh, Berry Dairy Days, Burlington’s celebration of its agricultural heritage and a warm welcome to the summer.

Question is, just how many berries are going to make it to this year’s festival? It’s an important question, seeing as the hallmark of this event is the fresh strawberry shortcake, made with sweet local berries, served up by high school cheerleaders as a fundraiser.

Sakuma Brothers Farms of Burlington typically donates the berries, said Ryan Sakuma, part owner of the business. This year, the farm has set aside 500 pounds of strawberries to go with the 2,700 shortcakes donated by Haggen Food and Pharmacy.

But the extended cold season that postponed the beloved tulips also has left berry farmers waiting for their berry crop, Sakuma said. Looks like farmers won’t be picking strawberries until between the 25th and 30th of this month. That’s at least two weeks behind the typical picking time, Sakuma said.

So, unless Mother Nature provides some more favorable weather, the berries on your shortcake may be frozen from last year, he said.

The 71st annual Berry Dairy Days, one of Skagit County’s longest running festivals, kicks off Thursday, June 19, with the shortcake booths along Fairhaven Avenue, and continues through Sunday, June 22, in downtown Burlington.

The rest of the events are expected to be as fresh as always, with plenty of entertainment for the whole family, including the Grand Parade, a tractor parade and show, a 10K and 2-mile road run, a fireworks display, music, kids’ activities and food at Maiben Park, and a classic car show along Fairhaven Avenue.

Over the years, the Grand Parade down Fairhaven Avenue has become a visitor favorite, with everything from clowns, fire trucks, police cars and dancers to marching bands, colorful floats, horses and tractors entertaining the crowds. Children often look forward to collecting the many pieces of candy thrown from the floats. Parade organizers expect to sign up between 85 and 100 entries, said Lisa Swanberg, Burlington Chamber of Commerce office director.

This year’s parade will include four grand marshals instead of one, Swanberg said, representing businesses that have operated in Skagit County for 50 years or more, including Skagit Valley Hospital, Skagit State Bank, Skagit River Steel and Shell Oil.

“The parade theme is ‘Honoring the Past,’ which coincides with the idea that these grand marshals have been in business for 50 years,” Swanberg said.

Another big draw is the Festival in the Park at Maiben Park, featuring pony rides, kids’ games and activities, music by four local bands — Barefeet, Fanny Alger, the Troy Fair Band and Brian Hurst Band — and food vendors.

Then there’s the Berry Cool Car Show on Sunday, a popular event every year, attracting between 150 and 200 classic cars.

City and chamber officials expect an especially packed crowd this year. Leap year has scheduled Berry Dairy Days on the same weekend as the annual Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway and the Skagit Firecracker Youth Soccer Tournament, which draws about 150 teams for a possible couple of thousand extra people in the area.

Organizers have been working with the city to rearrange campers and vendors and to adjust the soccer tournament times to make way for the massive fireworks display.

Berry Dairy Days was started by the city’s firefighters as a fall festival to celebrate the area’s agricultural heritage. But the festival was moved in 1937 from fall to June to take advantage of the spring crops, including the abundant strawberries.

After World War II, festival organizers decided to include the local dairies as a theme and the festival officially became known as Berry Dairy Days.

The unpredictable June weather patterns prompted organizers to move the festival in 2000 from June to July, and then back again to June in 2005 to make sure the berries were still around when the shortcake booths went up. The Festival in the Park was moved from Maiben Park in the east section of Burlington to Alpha Park downtown, only to be moved back to Maiben Park in 2003.

Maiben Park continues to be an excellent location for the activities, organizers say.

Now, if those fresh berries make it in time ...

• Beverly Crichfield can be reached at 360-416-2135 or .