The Placentia Santa Fe Merchants Association and the City of Placentia are proud to announce the return of their annual Tamale Festival. This event will be held in Old Town Placentia on the 100-200 blocks of Santa Fe Street on Wednesday, December 5, from 4:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Due to rising attendance over the last few years, this year the event has expanded and added several new experiences.
Nowadays it seems like every city has its own tamale festival, however, it wasn’t always that way. Based largely on the tremendous success of the Placentia Tamale Festival lots of O.C. cities have followed suit by sponsoring their own events.
“The Placentia Tamale Festival was the very first one, and its history goes all the way back to the 1980s when it was started as a small, neighborhood posada,” said Brian Nick, member of the Placentia Santa Fe Merchants Association. “Eventually tamales were added to the event, and in 1994 the annual gathering was named the “Placentia Tamale Festival.”
It was the first tamale festival in Orange County and for years would remain the only one. Attendees can expect to genuinely experience a truly authentic cultural event because of the gourmet delicacies, the incredible live music, and the charming and warm feeling of Old Town and its history.
“That’s something that really sets the Placentia Tamale Festival apart: it’s not run by a city or business and there is no paid staff.” Nick continued. “It still has that authentic, small-town feel because it’s planned & run by people in the community whose only motivation is to create a magic experience for all attendees.”
Bradford Ave will include a craft beer garden hosted by the Placentia Chamber of Commerce. The American Legion will also be open to the public with several options for those that want to support the local veteran community.
The festival will have a live performance from world class music and two time Grammy award winning Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea.
“Even though the event has become a marquee event in the city of Placentia with 20,000 plus attendees every year and has become a blueprint for other cities, yet has always stayed true to its humble roots,” added Nick. “The event is still put on by just a handful of neighborhood volunteers with a shoestring budget.”
For all attendees a shuttle service will be offered and will run from 4:00 p.m. till 9:15 p.m. The city of Placentia does advise if guests miss the last shuttle they will need to walk to their car from the festival.
For more information visit city of Placentia website: http://www.placentia.org/index.aspx?NID=685.
