On Thursday, May 4, the nonprofit Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCoG) will kick off the second annual month-long, bilingual festival to celebrate the gastronomies, histories, and food cultures of maíz (corn) in Tucson. This also includes three other North American gastronomy cities belonging to the UNESCO Creative Cities and Délice Networks, thanks to the second year of a grant from Pima County’s American Rescue Plan funding for tourism recovery.
There’s a lot happening during this year’s event including a Maíz Showcase dinner featuring several local chefs, a Noche de Maiz Dinner (featuring more local chefs) at The Carriage House, and a Maiz Fiesta at Kennedy Park. You’ll need to get your tickets sooner than later for these dinners to ensure your spot at the table.
Keep reading to learn about all of the fun happening during the four-day fiesta.
The main program, which will run from Thursday, May 4 – Sunday, May 7, will feature a free fiesta at Kennedy Park with street food, cooking demonstrations, a chef showcase, a white-cloth dinner, live musical performances, interactive art installations, and educational activities. It will closely follow and connect with the annual Agave Heritage Festival and Tucson International Mariachi Conference. All three festivals will be co-presenting a concert with La Sonora Dinamita con Vilma Diaz on Sunday, May 7 at the Rialto Theatre.
Other Pueblos del Maíz crossover events include a free “First Thursday” May 4th art opening at Tucson Museum of Art & Historic Block, featuring Guatemalan-Mexican-American artist Justin Favela (representatives of his family) and community collaborators, vendors, and entertainment. At the Mission Garden, there will be educational and family-friendly activities on the morning of Saturday, May 6.
Tucson City of Gastronomy and Gastronomic Union of Tucson (GUT) come together at The Carriage House to present an unforgettable kickoff to Pueblos del Maíz 2023. Chef Janos Wilder, Chef Gary Hickey & Chef Tyler Fenton will welcome visiting chefs from UNESCO Pueblos del Maíz sister cities, Mérida MX, and San Antonio TX. Each visiting chef will collaborate with renowned local chefs to prepare a series of paired courses highlighting the creative culinary possibilities for the cultural staple, Maíz.
Learn more and purchase your tickets.
A Maíz Showcase dinner on Friday, May 5 will feature a collaborative menu by local award-winning chefs, restauranteurs, and food artisans, including Wendy Garcia (Tumerico and La Chaiteria), Juan Alamanza (El Taco Rustico), Devon Sanner (Zio Peppe), Sally Kane (The Coronet), Doug Levy (Feast), Ayla Kapahi (Borderlands Brewing Company), and Mary Steiger and Susan Fulton (Gourmet Girls Gluten Free).
Learn more and purchase your tickets.
The Maíz Fiesta on Saturday, May 6 is free, for all ages, and will feature a variety of maíz-themed street food and artisanal food products. Live music will be provided by regional bands Los Apson, Gertie & the TO Boyz, Los Hermanos Cuatro, and Mariapaula Mazon.
The festival is expanded this year with grants from the Arizona Office of Tourism and the City of Tucson, and TCoG has hired local event managers Galeria Mitotera, Ranch House Media, and Best Life Presents. If those names sound familiar, they’ve worked together to grow the last several editions of HOCO Fest, and more recently helped produce TENWEST.
Tucson, San Antonio, and Mérida, Mexico, are all UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy, and Tucson, Mérida, and Puebla, Mexico, are members of the Délice Network. After the Pueblos del Maíz celebration in Tucson, the event will move through these other three cities on a rolling schedule through the month of May.
The four Pueblos del Maíz cities will exchange chefs, share live streams of cooking demonstrations, and host a traveling photo exhibit. Craft brewers in each city will make a special maíz beer and the Tucson version of the beer will be made by Borderlands Brewing Company.
For more information, visit pueblosdelmaiz.com.
