Parade joins Music Showcase lineup

For the first time, the New Mexico Music Showcase will feature a parade Saturday morning down Tucumcari’s Route 66.

Benji Torres, treasurer of the Tucumcari Columbus Club that helps organize the third annual celebration of Hispanic music in New Mexico, said last week the 9 a.m. parade already has 25 entrants and is welcoming more, especially if they’re local.

“We’re trying to get the community more involved,” Torres said.

The parade from the old Kmart building to the Tucumcari Convention Center offers prizes of $300, $200 and $100 for first-, second- and third-place entries. The parade is inclusive, welcoming all floats, vehicles, motorcycles, horses, bicycles and even walkers.

Those who want to enter the parade or have questions about the festival should call 575-403-6035 or 505-582-7459.

Jerry Lopez, another one of the organizers, said the showcase has sold out of its allotment of tickets through the internet last week, but more were available at Rubee’s Diner, Farmers Insurance, Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce and the Plateau office on Main Street downtown.

Lopez anticipates the event will sell more than 400 tickets total. He said sales were a bit slow last week because it was graduation week for Tucumcari High School seniors, but he anticipated stronger sales in the week leading up to the festival.

Though the $25 advance tickets cover the headlining acts of Cuarenta y Cinco and Str8 Shot on Saturday night at the Tucumcari Convention Center, the festival offers plenty of free entertainment outdoors there.

Here’s the full lineup of acts; all are free unless otherwise noted:

• 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Skyliners (based in Tucumcari);

• 8:15 to 10:15 p.m. Friday, Power Drive USA (based in Albuquerque);

• 10:30 to noon Saturday, Amistad (based in Las Vegas, New Mexico);

• 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Brenda and Juan Ortega (based in Las Vegas);

• 1:45 to 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Quemoso (based in Las Vegas);

• 3:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jonathan Castillo y Profundo (based in Raton);

• 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Str8 Shot (based in Bernalillo, admission required);

• 10 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday, Cuarenta y Cino (based in Chamita, admission required).

Lopez said last week at least 16 vendors were confirmed for the convention center area. He said local nonprofits could set up a booth at the festival for free.

Lopez said the showcase focuses on music from northern New Mexico. Quoting teenagers from Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” about the music’s appeal, Lopez said: “It’s got a beat, and you can dance to it.”

Although the New Mexico Music Showcase serves as a celebration of the region’s sometimes-overlooked Hispanic culture, Lopez said he has another reason for the event.

“We want to promote Tucumcari so people will stay here overnight and give the locals something, too,” he said. “People are always saying there’s nothing to do in Tucumcari. We want to change that.”