Do not let the calendar fool you. Just because it is now September, it is not cooling off…at least in Pueblo. In fact, this coming weekend, the heat’s on! It’s time for the 31st annual Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival, an event that has grown into what may be the largest party of the fall in all of Colorado.
The festival began in 1994. And not unlike an early spring chile plant, it made little impression. The late Pueblo Chamber of Commerce president Rod Slyhoff once estimated—and very generously—its first incarnation may have attracted a ‘couple of thousand’ visitors, most from Pueblo. But how things have changed, said Chamber Vice President Donielle Kitzman.
“It’s incredible,” said Kitzman. From a few chile roasters and an equally modest list of vendors, the festival has blossomed into something no one could have imagined. The three-day festival run, September 19, 20 and 21, now even has a corporate sponsor, T-Mobile Fiber. Corporations apparently like the idea of getting their brand in front of 150,000 unique visitors.
While there will be more than 200 vendors lining the city’s historic Union Avenue, with a few more on adjacent streets, a number of bands, dancing, a few chihuahua races, a jalapeño contest and a farmers market, the main purpose of the festival is to promote Pueblo County agriculture, a southern Colorado jewel that grows what Kitzman says is the nation’s premier chile.
“It’s the whole purpose,” she said of the festival. Sure, chile may be the sexy crop, the one that gets all of the attention, but Pueblo County produce, said Kitzman, whether it’s corn, pumpkins, melons, beans or squash, is as good as any anywhere in the state or nation. Colorado State University agronomists don’t disagree.
Pueblo, often called the buckle of Colorado’s ‘banana belt,’ so called for its temperate seasonal climate, is situated perfectly for great agriculture. It stretches from Cañon City to the west to the Arkansas Valley to the east.
The soil, agriculture experts say, is “mineral rich.” But there’s also a nice complement of hot summer days and cool nights. The Arkansas River provides the water. Also, winter temperatures do their part by killing off insects that might threaten the harvest.
To make it easy for out-of-towners who make the trip for the festival—and the chile—Kitzman says organizers have created a system allowing you to get your chile brought to your car “so you don’t have to lug the heavy loads.” But she still encourages people to “go to the farms and buy your chile there.” Experience all of Pueblo, she says.
The festival, Kitzman promises, will have something for everyone. There’ll be both country and Tejano music; a hot air balloon glow, comedian and actor George Lopez will have a performance on Friday night at Pueblo Memorial Hall.
Come for the chile, Kitzman says. Stay for the fun. General admission tickets are $8, children under 12 are free. Military personnel with valid ID are free.
For more information visit the Chamber’s website: pueblochamber.org.
