January 19, 2019

11am - 5pm

4th ANNUAL TAMALE FESTIVAL

WINNERS!

2019 Judges Favorite

Traditional:

1st Place ~ Garcia’s Restaurant, Atascadero

2nd Place ~ Mary’s Cuisine Catering, San Luis Obispo

3rd Place ~ Maria’s Catering, Anaheim

Gourmet:

1st Place ~ La Luz Del Mundo, Ontario

2nd Place ~ Los Osos Mexican Market, Los Osos

3rd Place ~ Barrett’s Tamales, Huntington Beach

Sweet:

1st Place ~ La Luz Del Mundo, Santa Ana

2nd Place ~ Barrett’s Tamales, Huntington Beach

3rd Place ~ Los Osos Mexican Market, Los Osos

2019 People’s Choice:

These Tamale vendors won across all categories of traditional, gourmet and sweet!

1st Place ~ Garcia’s Restaurant, Atascadero

2nd Place ~ La Luz Del Mundo Paso Robles

3rd Place ~ Las Delicias de Zacatecas, San Luis Obispo

4th ANNUAL TAMALE FESTIVAL

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE

City Hall Stage:

11-12:30 pm “Best Tamale” Judges Choice: Judging inside Lower Rotunda/ City Hall – Not open to the public

11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Flyover Kick off with Mayor Heather Moreno & the Falcon Airstrike Birds followed by the Mariachi Mexicanisimo Band

12:00 – 12:30 pm - Grupo Folklorico Dancers from Paso Robles

12:00 - 12:30 pm - Horses & Birds of Prey available for viewing

12:30 – 1:00 pm - Performance by Soloist Manuel Enrique

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm - Famous Dancing Horses + Trip Roper performance

2:30 – 3:30 pm Que Pasa Mexican Grill’s Tamale Eating Contest

3:30 – 5 pm Ricky Montijo

Entrada Stage/ Downtown:

12-2:00 pm Dork Band

2-3 pm Chihuahua Costume Contest & Fashion Show (2:15 pm contest starts)

3-5:00 pm Los Gatos Locos Band

REGISTER FOR CONTESTS AT INFORMATION BOOTH on West Mall & Palma!

CLOSE OF EVENT: 5 pm Announce winners of Judges Favorite & People’s Choice Tamales

The City of Atascadero is pleased to present the 4th Annual Tamale Festival to be held in the Sunken Gardens and across the Downtown on Saturday, January 19, 2019 from 11 am to 5 pm! This event has grown each year from the inaugural event in 2016! There will be everything from gourmet to traditional to sweet tamales, featuring tamale vendors coming to town from all over California. You can expect over 30 Tamale Vendors!

The City prepares each year for this event with countywide outreach to numerous local restaurants, caterers and non-profit organizations! In addition to this, we also attend the famous International Tamale Festival held in Indio, California to promote Atascadero’s event and in search of more tamale vendors to add a wide variety of tamales to our festival!

The very popular “Tamale Contest” will return this year, where all of the tamale vendors can showcase their outstanding work in creating the “best” tamale. There will be a “People’s Choice Tamale” and a “Judges Favorite Tamale!” This year, we will be judging three categories: Gourmet, Traditional and Sweet Tamales. In 2018, 1st place winners for the “Judges Favorite” for traditional and gourmet tamales went to Shave N’Flav of Paso Robles and 1st place for sweet tamales went to La Luz Del Mundo Church in Paso Robles. The “People’s Choice” award for 1st place went to Garcia’s Restaurant in Atascadero who won across all three categories of tamales! For 2019, members of the Atascadero City Council and local celebrities will kick off the judging of the Tamale Contest at 11 a.m. to select their own personal favorite tamale. The winners of the “Judges Favorite Tamale” along with the People’s Choice for the “Most Popular Tamale” will be announced at 5 pm.

The “Tamale Eating Contest” is another favorite and this year Que Pasa Mexican Grill is the official sponsor of the contest and Kennedy Club Fitness will be providing gift certificates to the gym for the winners! Anyone interested in participating will go to the Information Booth to register to be in the contest. There will be two categories, one for ages 12 and over on who can eat the most tamales, and one for under 12 years of age to see who can eat two tamales the fastest. These contest participants will have two minutes in each age category to master the goal! There will be an entry fee of $10/ person for 12 & over and FREE for under 12 years of age. Registrations for the Tamale Eating Contest will take place at the Information Booth from 11 am until 1 pm. The contest will take place at 2:45 pm in front of City Hall. Space is limited, first come first served. First place winners will receive a trophy and a gift certificate for Kennedy Club Fitness.

NEW for 2019! The Chihuahua Costume Contest and Fashion show presented by Woods Humane Society! Registration will take place at the Information booth and the Woods Humane Society booth from 11 am until 1 pm and the contest will take place at 2:15 pm in front of the Entrada stage. Winners of the contest will receive pet oriented prizes including a photo session from Jillian Parks Photography for first place! Get your costumes ready!

Entertainment will feature the Mariachi Mexicanisimo band, the famous Dancing Horses, soloist Manuel Enrique, the popular Folklorico Dancers, as well as music from the Dork Band (NEW for 2019!), Ricky Montijo (NEW for 2019!), and the Los Gatos Locos band! Plus Medina Light Show & Designs being the Emcee of the day! The festival will also include bounce houses, Zorb Balls and an obstacle course by Bubble Fun, plus face painting, balloon animals and plenty of fun for all ages! Over 60 vendors will be available from merchandise and crafts to adult beverages to a wide variety of food vendors beyond tamales to appease everyone’s palette and appetite!

We would not be able to bring events to the community without the support of our sponsors! Thank you to our sponsors H&R Block, Que Pasa Mexican Grille, Kennedy Club Fitness, Rolson Music & Sound, Woods Humane Society and our media sponsors, New Times, The Tribune, Colony Magazine and American General Media.

DO NOT MISS this popular event! Atascadero’s 4th Annual Tamale Festival will be a fun and exciting occasion for the whole family to attend, especially for anyone who loves tamales! The event is free to attend and enjoy the entertainment, but don’t forget to bring your wallet in order to purchase delicious food, activities and merchandise; AND be sure to place your orders from your favorite tamale vendor(s) to stock up, as tamales freeze well too!

For interested tamale vendors, other food or merchant vendors, the deadline to register is January 4that 5 pm.

VENDOR APPLICATIONS

Tamale Vendor

Tamale Vendor (Spanish)

Food Vendor (Non-Tamale)

Adult Beverage

Merchandise Vendor

Photo Compliments of Rick Evans!