Tamales, tacos and tunes.
Those are just a few of the things you can expect at this year’s Tucson Tamal & Heritage Festival, which will include music, tamale makers and artists with their arts and crafts.
About 15,000 are expected to attend the festival, said Ryan Frohberg, director of marketing for Casino Del Sol. There will be a little over 100 vendors.
Of course, there will also be a wide variety of tamale vendors, including David Valenzuela of Tamales Tabita, who has been participating in the festival for four years.
Valenzuela said he was first inspired to participate while he was working with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, which owns the casino.
“There were people there that had already tasted our tamales that I would take to work,” Valenzuela said. “So they encouraged me to participate in the Tamal Festival.”
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He said his tamale recipe has been in his family for generations, and he enjoys making them in his spare time.
Each year, Valenzuela has donated his earnings toward renovating his church and plans to do the same with this year’s earnings.
So far they have been able to renovate parts of the kitchen, including new countertops and an extension to better fit the refrigerators. This year, he hopes to be able to get new tables and chairs for the kitchen.
The festival is also known for its tamale contest, in which local celebrities and casino management judge their favorite tamales. Cash prizes range from $150 to $750.
The contest is split into four categories: traditional red, traditional corn, gourmet and sweet. Valenzuela will be entering his red chili beef tamales and sweet corn green tamales in the competition.
Sarah Workman is a University of Arizona journalism student apprenticing at the Star.
