The first two Orange Blossom Festivals featured "The Pageant of the San Joaquin," a gigantic historical play in an outdoor setting in the foothills, with the community of Strathmore also participating. Hundreds participated, including school children, as the various episodes of the past were unfolded­from the time when the Yokuts Indians roamed the Lindsay plains, the days of Mexican rule, the '49er, and the covered wagons, the era of wheat raising period, cattlemen and cattle rustling, planting of the orange groves and, finally, the completing of Shasta and Friant dams and the coming of water into the district from the north. All was depicted in real life drama on a vast natural stage before the audience seated in a huge, ideal natural amphitheatre.

The finale included the children in capes of many colors forming a "Rainbow of Promise". There flowed at their feet and down to the spectators a golden stream as, literally, several carloads of oranges were released for guests to enjoy as they returned to their homes.