Two lively festivals add spice to Pueblo
More than 100 million viewers around the world annually watch Professional Bull Riders events on TV, and 1 million people actually attend PBR rodeos each year.
So what does that have to do with Pueblo?
Pueblo is home to the Professional Bull Riders Association, which relocated here in July 2007 and has opened a four-story headquarters building along the Arkansas River. In May 2009, PBR officials wanted to become more involved with the Pueblo community, so they organized an inaugural Wild Wild West Fest.
The event was well received, so the second annual festival will take place May 12-16, 2010.
“It’s going to take a few years, but I’m hoping that Wild Wild West Fest will someday reach the popularity of other such renowned western icon gatherings as the Calgary Stampede in Canada and Cheyenne Days in Wyoming,” says Randy Bernard, CEO of the Professional Bull Riders Association. “We aren’t taking shortcuts in growing Wild Wild West Fest and will always strive to keep it first class. So every mid-May from now on, we want to help make Pueblo a destination for many, many tourists.”
The festival is staged at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, with attractions that run the gamut of entertainment.
“Bull riding is one event, yet a juried art show is another,” Bernard says. “We will continue to add interesting attractions as we progress, but like I said, the ultimate goal is to make Wild Wild West Fest one of the premier attractions for Pueblo and this entire region each year.”
Chile Festival Is Hot Event
One attraction in Pueblo that already holds such a lofty distinction is the Loaf ‘N Jug Chile & Frijoles Festival, which occurs every September on the third weekend following Labor Day. Approximately 90,000 spectators pack Union Avenue to celebrate the wide array of chile peppers that are grown in the Pueblo area.
"Each year the farmers plant nearly 300 acres of chilies and close to 500 acres of frijoles," says Juls Bayci, communications director for the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce. "While it's hard to say if the advent of the Chile & Frijoles Festival has caused farmers to increase that acreage, one thing is for sure; the festival has definitely increased the awareness of Pueblo's chile crop throughout the region and state, thus increasing the demand."
The chamber, in partnership with El Pueblo History Museum, started the festival in 1994 to salute the impact that chile peppers have in the city and county. Pueblo, nestled in the Arkansas River Valley, has cool nights, hot days and frigid river water that runs fresh from the Rockies – all of which create a large, flavorful chile that is thick skinned and easy to peel.
Festival activities include live music, cooking competitions, a 5K run, ethnic dancers, performing and visual arts, and a children’s zone.
“Lots of great Pueblo restaurants and caterers are represented, and one of the competitions allows anyone in town to enter their best salsa,” Bayci says. “The festival continues to attract visitors from throughout Colorado and neighboring states as the trend toward heritage tourism grows.”
