12th Annual Chile Festival Begins This Friday

What
12th Annual Chile Festival
When
Sept. 11-13, 2015
Where
Heirloom Farmers Markets
More info.
heirloomfm.org

Heirloom Farmers Markets is celebrating the heat (or, hopefully, the end of it) with the 12th Annual Chile Festival.

The Chile Festival kicks off Friday, September 11 at Trail Dust Town and continues at the Oro Valley Farmers Market Saturday, September 12, culminating with the Grande Chile Fiesta at the Rillito Park Farmers Market Sunday, September 13.

“The Annual Chile Festival is an event close to our region’s heritage and is a time when the chiles ripen to perfection with the more robust red color,” says Roxanne Garcia, co-director of Heirloom Farmers Markets. “We showcase the abundance of chile varieties and share fun and creative ways to cook with chile and chile products.”

The market’s usual vendors will be offering fresh roasted green chiles, chile spices, tamales and salsas, and an abundance of chile specialties. On Sunday, the Grande Chile Fiesta at the Rillito Park Farmers Market Pavilion will feature live music by Tesoro and a Chef Demonstration by Agustin Kitchen’s Chef Ryan Clark.

If what you’re really looking for is fresh roasted Hatch chiles, you can preorder a batch from Kris Young of Red’s Roasters to be picked up at any of the 3 locations by calling 520-409-3406.

According to Heirloom Farmers Markets, New Mexico may be the largest U.S. chile producer, but Arizona grows approximately 6,000 acres of chiles valued at close to $10 million, making it a vital part of the “Chile Belt.”

For more information, visit heirloomfm.org.