Atascadero Tamale Festival returns this weekend 

Special ‘First Friday’ event on Friday will celebrate Cinco de Mayo

– The City of Atascadero will present the 7th Annual Tamale Festival in the Sunken Gardens and Downtown Atascadero on Saturday, May 6 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. with a special ”First Fridays” evening celebration on May 5 starting at 5:30 p.m. in downtown.

This year, the festival will kick off at “First Fridays” with a Cinco de Mayo celebration starting at 5:30 p.m. Guests downtown will get a sneak peek of the Tamale vendors that will be selling their tamales, plus enjoy the “Sip & Shop” Wine Walk presented by the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce and complementary tours of City Hall by the Atascadero Historical Society. In addition, the downtown merchants will be offering a special #Atowndowntownpassport that can be picked up at any of the participating merchant locations. Participants can get their passport stamped six times and turn it in at their last stop for an opportunity to win a downtown shopping spree. The evening will conclude with a special fireworks display starting at 8 p.m. with the best viewing in the sunken gardens and the downtown looking in the direction of Historic City Hall and the Fine Arts Academy.

On Saturday, May 6 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., the 7th Annual Tamale Festival gets underway with nearly 30 tamale vendors from across California offering a variety of tamales for purchase from gourmet to traditional to sweet tamales. Entertainment will include Emcee Francisco Ramirez along with Medina Light Show Designs, plus a wide variety of music from Mariachi Mexicanisimo, Ranchero Artist Manuel Enrique and his horse, the Famous Dancing Horses featuring Mariachi Voces Tapatias, and the Folklorico Dancers from Santa Maria & Guadalupe. There will be live music by Dante’ Marsh and the Vibe Setters, La Marcha Sound, Steppin’ Out Band, Brass Mash, and Jungle Fire. Enjoy bounce houses, Zorb Balls, and bungee jumps from Bubble Fun 101 along with face painting, balloon animals, a photo booth with “Waffles” the miniature donkey, and plenty of fun for all ages. Over 90 vendors will be on display offering everything from merchandise and crafts to adult beverages to a wide variety of food vendors with tamales and beyond tamales to appease everyone’s palette and appetite.

The very popular “Best Tamale Contest” will be in the works, where all of the tamale vendors can showcase their outstanding work to our celebrity judges to decide the “best” tamale. Plus, the “Tamale Eating Contest” and the “Chihuahua Costume and Pet Contest” will be available for those who wish to participate.

The event is free to attend and enjoy the entertainment, but don’t forget to bring your wallet in order to purchase delicious food, adult beverages from margaritas to craft breweries and wine, a variety of activities and merchandise; and be sure to place your orders from your favorite tamale vendor(s) to stock up, as tamales freeze well too. Event is rain or shine.

For event information and the entertainment schedule, go to VisitAtascadero.com/TamaleFest. For tickets to the Friday evening “Sip & Shop” hosted by the Chamber, go to www.atascaderochamber.org. 

About the author: News Staff

News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at [email protected].