Keeping the fire burning

It was almost like the Fired Up festival never left.

Teeming crowds, long lines and general enthusiasm for Tucumcari MainStreet's annual event Saturday at the city's historic railroad plaza mostly belied the three-year hiatus Fired Up took because of restrictions and uncertainties over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet that puts on the festival, noted it wasn't apparent the long layoff had much of an effect.

"It's comparable to what we've had pre-pandemic," Loveland said Saturday evening.

"There's a good turnout, and we've had a lot of people tell us they drove over from Amarillo and Clovis," she said. "It's been busy all night long. I've heard from vendors who said they sold out of food already. It's just been a fantastic night."

On Sunday, Loveland estimated a crowd of between 1,500 to 2,000 people, though she admitted the people counters in the parking lot behind the VFW had trouble keeping track.

"The crowd was large, and it appeared that people stayed for the entire festival," she said, adding that she met a few people who also stayed in Tucumcari an extra night so they could attend Fired Up.

In 2019, Fired Up drew a record crowd of more than 4,200.

By early evening, lines 30 feet long snaked in front of food trucks and tents at the festival.

One was a group of volunteers from Love's Travel Center that sold turkey legs, burgers, barbecue and cheesecake as a fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

Theresa Encinias, one of the volunteers, said their tent sold out of food by 7:30 p.m. and all its desserts by 9 p.m.

In all, that netted about $2,200 for the charity, which will be given to Children's Hospital in Amarillo.

Jonathan Brito of the Tucumcari Sno-Balls trailer reported on social media he'd sold more than 200 snowcones and other frozen treats during the event, which he said was a record.

It wasn't just food booths that saw long lines. Three face-painters were kept busy at their tent all evening.

"We've been busy all day," Jayden Jimenez said as she applied color to a child's cheek. "It's been pretty nice."

Franchesca Velasquez, another face painter, said later in the evening she was enthused about the festival's turnout.

"Everybody's been so happy," she said. "It's been amazing."

Lines also formed at Axel Contemporary van for its free photo portraits and at the New Mexico Mobil Axe trailer, where customers tried their hand at hitting a plywood bull's eye with a flying axe blade.

Jeremy Windsor, who managed the axe booth with his wife Wendy, said they were busy all night.

Asked about a good technique to throw an axe, Windsor said, "It's all in the follow-through and how you step into it."

Earlier in the day, Maddox Martinez and Annie Knapp were named Prince Tocum and Princes Kari in the children's costume pageant. Christopher Andrew's School of the Arts presented a dance performance.

By early evening, music from local country-music band Limited Edition prompted numerous couples to dance as the sun descended on the festival area.

The Odd-Lab group, a Las Cruces-based mainstay at the festival, brought a few new wrinkles, including a performer on stilts and another adorned with strings of LED lighting as night began to fall. Festival-goers enjoyed clear skies and moderate breezes. The high temperature Saturday was 89 degrees, which quickly fell to the 70s after sunset.

By the time Odd-Lab began its best-known act at nightfall, hundreds had gathered in front of the stage area to gasp and marvel over its choreographed performances with fire.

Shortly after Odd-Lab performers took their final bows, the Tucumcari Fire Department punctuated the festival with a short fireworks show.

Even before the clock struck midnight, Tucumcari MainStreet announced the date for its next Fired Up: Sept. 30, 2023.