The celebration of Tucson’s lost historic food: Chinese chorizo returns Sunday, October 1 – Sunday, October 29 for the Chinese Chorizo Project’s (CCP) second annual Tucson Chinese Chorizo Festival (TCCF).
The month-long festival uplifts the story of Mexican and Chinese immigrant solidarity during the early 1900s-1970s and promotes intersectional solidarity, community collaboration, historic preservation, and cultural and artistic enrichment. More than 35 participating restaurants and food vendors across Tucson and Phoenix will be invigorated by featuring a dish incorporating donated Chinese chorizo.
All vendors will keep all proceeds resulting from the festival and will be promoted on various social public forums, which will be supported by CCP’s strategic partner Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce and promotional partner Tucson Foodie.
Since the festival has nearly doubled in size, approximately 1,200 total pounds of chorizo will be donated to this year’s participating restaurants and vendors. CCP will be partnering with Sito’s Fresh Market for Tucson’s Chinese chorizo production. Up to 30 pounds of Chinese chorizo (15 pounds of vegan mushroom-based and 15 pounds of pork-based) will be distributed to each participant who will create a dish featuring the Chinese chorizo for an allotted weekend throughout October, Friday through Sunday, or until sold out.
The expansion of the festival will add a dynamic cultural experience for attendees in addition to the participating brick-and-mortar restaurants that will be featured in the Tucson Foodie Guide to TCCF.
In Phoenix, the festival will be represented by restaurants like James Beard Awarded restaurants Valentine and newcomer Chilte. The estimated 15,000 attendees of the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce Night Market will be able to enjoy Chinese chorizo renditions at Arizona’s largest Asian night market.
The kick-off weekend will be robust.
The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival will be celebrated with sweet and savory mooncakes at the Gastronomic Union of Tucson’s Fall Harvest Festival at Tucson Village Farm. Chinese chorizo will appear in food done in collaboration with Barrio Bread and art forms at MoCA Tucson’s Chorizo Dancehall-themed fall fundraiser.
Tucson Museum of Art will be showcasing up-and-coming food vendors curated by CCP at the museum’s Second SundAZe to celebrate the new installation of Southwest Art where a rotating multilingual CCP recipe video will be accessible through a featured QR code. A talk/workshop held at the Center for Creative Photography through Activism in Motion (AIM) will cover a discussion and tasting about sensuality as an interconnected expression of activism with CCP founder Feng-Feng Yeh.
To close the festival, Queer AF is organizing an American Horror Story-themed queer dance party. Held at Owls Club, the festival will take form in a curated queer-vended food graveyard feeding the creatures of the night.
Last year’s inaugural festival was sparked by the grant awarded CCP from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts and MoCA Tucson. It is a prelude to a public, large-scale, mosaic sculpture of two linked Chinese chorizo that symbolizes the union of our communities.
The resurrection of the Chinese chorizo inspires culinary innovation while stimulating Arizona businesses. Conversations around identity politics and the resilience of immigrant communities within the context of obscured violent U.S. history have created a new hybrid of foodie: the anthropologic foodie.
Chef and artist Yeh became the first recipient of the 2023 Si Charro! Food Visionary Award hosted through Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCoG) Food Heroes Awards for these rich contributions to our community.
Chinese Chorizo Festival Schedule
- Sunday, October 1: Gastronomic Union of Tucson Autumn Harvest Carnival
- Friday, October 6: MOCA Tucson Chorizo Dancehall Fall Fundraiser
- Friday, October 6 – Sunday, October 8: Participating Tucson Restaurants (TBD)
- Sunday, October 8: Tucson Museum of Art 2nd SundAZe and Southwest Art Exhibition with Atekei Treats, Phatboiis BBQ, and Fungirl’s Fungi
- Friday, October 13 – Sunday, October 15: Participating Tucson Restaurants (TBD)
- Saturday, October 14: Activism in Motion (AIM) talk/workshop with Chinese Chorizo Project founder Feng-Feng Yeh at the Center for Creative Photography
- Friday, October 20 – Saturday, October 21: Asian Chamber of Commerce Night Market at Casino Del Sol (Glendale)
- Friday, October 20 – Sunday, October 22: Participating Phoenix Restaurants (Valentine and Chilte)
- Friday, October 27 – Sunday, October 29: Participating Tucson Restaurants (TBD)
- Sunday, October 28: Queer AF American Horror Story Halloween Dance Party with Food Graveyard at Owls Club
- Tuesday, November 7: VIP After-party
For more information on the story of Chinese chorizo and the full list of participating restaurants, food vendors, and events, visit chinesechorizoproject.com.
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