Fired Up festival canceled again

The Fired Up festival scheduled for Sept. 25 in downtown Tucumcari has been canceled for a second straight year because of COVID-19 concerns, but organizers are replacing it with Fired Up Friday events monthly through the early fall.

Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, announced its cancellation Saturday after meeting with the MainStreet board of directors. MainStreet organizes the annual festival at Tucumcari Historic Railroad Plaza. Loveland said ongoing uncertainties from the pandemic prompted them to cancel the festival, which drew thousands each year.

“There are too many unknowns to put on such an event right now,” she said.

Instead, Loveland in a news release announced the creation of five Fired Up Fridays on the third Friday of each month through September. The new events will be at the railroad plaza from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., or until the food trucks that are scheduled to appear run out of food. Each Fired Up Friday also will feature an event or live entertainment.

Here are the scheduled Fired Up Fridays:

• May 21: A chuckwagon demonstration with Vince Smith and a book signing with Jim Keith;

• June 18: Open Mic Night;

• July 16: Chalk art contest with the Quay County Health Council;

• Aug. 20: End of Summer Bash;

• Sept. 17: Outdoor concert.

Food truck vendors interested in participating can call Tucumcari MainStreet at (575) 461-3701 for more more information.

The ninth annual Fired Up festival in 2019 drew a record crowd of 4,271, according to official counts kept by Tucumcari MainStreet.