Crunch time
Tunes and Tacos festival kicks-off today
While tacos are, of course, a major draw each year at the Tunes and Tacos festival, a good topping of salsa is not to be ignored.
As such, the Salsa Queen competition will be held alongside a live music concert featuring musical act Paloma this year, a change from previous events.
“We provide the chips and voting tickets,” said Carrie Ring, marketing specialist for the city of Yuma. “People will be able to go around and taste dozens of different salsas and vote on their favorites!”
The Tunes and Tacos Festival will be held at the Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive, from April 13-14. This year, the festival is to commence on Friday with the People’s Choice Salsa Queen Competition and Kick-Off Party.
The kick-off party will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and admission is $1 per person which includes free chips and over a dozen salsa “tastings,” Ring said. Voting will be held for the first three hours of the salsa competition preevent.
Local artists will have their art pieces on display to set the “fiesta atmosphere” the Tunes and Tacos website showed. A local dance company will also be available to offer free Salsa dance lessons. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.
Continuing on Saturday, the Tunes and Tacos Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Desert Sun Stadium/Ray Kroc Baseball Complex, Avenue A & 35th Street. Admission is also $1 per person and includes the carnival and concert.
On the menu at the festival will be a wide range of food such as carne asada (grilled and sliced beef), seafood tacos, chicken, pork, empanadas (stuffed bread or pastry), spicy barbecue and more.
“Yuma loves tacos,” Ring said. “We have 52 food vendors at this festival with 32 of them serving delicious tacos and/or Mexican food.”
In addition to food, the day will be also be filled with live music featuring a line-up of local artists and headliner R&B group Color Me Badd.
During the festival, the community stage will feature local musicians and the concert stage will feature a variety of different acts. Ring added that there will be two kidzones, one with bounce houses and one with a field full of carnivals rides.
As part of the family fun, there will also be piñatas and face painting.
“The city of Yuma wouldn’t be able to continue to host these amazing community festivals without the support of our local sponsors,” Ring said. “Those partnerships make these festivals happen. We want to thank our sponsors.”
Sponsors include State Farm, AEA Federal Credit Union, Del Real Foods, Breakthru Beverage, Takos & Beer, AmeriFirst Financial, Above All Plumbing, Liggett Electrical, Kia of Yuma, the Realty Agency, Ricky’s Other Place, The Patio Restaurant and Bar at the Hills, B&E Services, Culligan Water, Sprint, Cricket Wireless, Churros El Abuelo, Desert Water, Monster Taco, Vintage Selfie Photo Booth, Shamrock Foods, BLT Companies, Adobe Lazer, The Landing, Wells Fargo, Print Zoom, Imaginary Friends, KSWT 13, KYMA 11, ABC 5, Fox 9, CW6, Telemundo, Univision, La Campesina, Z93 Monster Media, Outlaw Country, and El Dorado Broadcasters.
For more information on the festival, visit www. tunesandtacos.com or call (928) 373-5000.