Revival of Pinata festival set for Saturday

The Pinata Fiesta on Saturday at the Tucumcari Convention Center serves as a revival of the long-defunct Pinata Festival, but it also has become a placeholder for the New Mexico Music Showcase that went dormant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scott Crotzer, executive director of the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce that is organizing the festival, made sure to give the music showcase its due during an interview last week.

“Honestly, if I hadn’t had the New Mexico Music Showcase do the legwork, we would have been in much worse shape,” Crotzer said, noting he had just a few weeks to organize the event. “The community has really come together on this.”

Crotzer said “my best guess” is the original Pinata Festival went dark during the late 1980s. Quay County Treasurer Patsy Gresham, who once ran the chamber, said she wasn’t sure when the festival stopped, but estimated it happened during the 1990s.

Vestiges of the music showcase remain with the booking of several New Mexico-based acts that previously performed here, including Cuarenta Y Cinco at 6:30 p.m. and Str8 Shot at 9 p.m. inside the convention center. Tickets for those bands are $10 per person or $15 per couple.

The rest of the festival is free, outside of the convention center.

Here is the schedule for the free events:

• 10 a.m.: Parade on Route 66 from Lake Street to the convention center;

• 11 to 11:30 a.m.: Mariachi Calor performance;

• 11 to 7 p.m: Petting zoo;

• 11 to 7 p.m.: Food vendors;

• 11 to 7 p.m.: Mechanical bull rides;

• 11:30 to 12:45 p.m.: Divino performance;

• 12:45 to 2:30 p.m.: Carlos Medina performance;

• 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Native American performers;

• 3:30 to 5 p.m.: Wild Country performance;

• 5 to 7 p.m.: Pinata smash of about 40 pinatas.