Sep. 26—Move over green chile, the seventh annual New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival is coming to town.
“While green chile is an amazing New Mexico staple, we’d love for people to know other plants around that can also be seen as the symbol of New Mexico,” Will Thomson, event organizer, said.
The goal of the festival, Thomson said, is to expand knowledge on the use of prickly pears and “to try to encourage farmers, ranchers, gardeners, food businesses to use native plants like prickly pear.”
“I think few people know all the ways you can eat it, use it, the ways it’s been used historically, and the way it could be a part of our state’s future,” Thomson said.
The festival will be held Friday, Sept. 26, and Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House.
The New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival has grown and expanded over its seven-year run.
“This is our first year doing two full days,” Thomson said. “It’s usually been a one-day event.”
Thomson said people are usually excited and skeptical when they come to the festival and learn everything there is to do with prickly pears.
“Lots of people have them in their yards,” Thomson said, “and maybe have enjoyed having them as a part of their landscape, but didn’t know they could eat it.”
Prickly pear is native to New Mexico and tastes similar to hibiscus or watermelon, Thomson said.
He said that the festival is small but is the only one in New Mexico dedicated to the cactus fruit and it’s the largest in the United States.
“We’re still a smaller festival,” Thomson said. “So we’d love to keep growing and having more folks come out each year.”
Thomson said the festival is an idyllic way to spend an afternoon and enjoy the venue, the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House.
“It’s a really great place to just go enjoy an afternoon and have some food, listen to some music, learn some cool new stuff about prickly pear,” Thomson said.