Vendors ready to showcase tasty recipes at Tamale Festival this weekend

The 22nd annual Indio International Tamale Festival is here. The celebration kicked off with a carnival Friday, while food vendors geared up to whip out their best tamale recipes over the weekend.

The festival draws vendors from across the region. Barret’s Tamales & Lemonade made the trip from Huntington Beach with 17 different flavors.

“Our Thanksgiving tamale is probably the most unique, that is a turkey stuffing cranberry tamale. It’s absolutely outstanding,” said manager Matthew Doss.

More than 150 vendors set up shop, ready to feed and entertain the 125,000 tamale fans expected to flood Old Town Indio.

Big Red’s Funnel Cakes is no exception. Owner Keith Alber said if the numbers stay true, he expects his “funnest funnel cakes” to rake in about $8,000 during the festival.

“This street’s going to be slammed with people,” said Alber.

“It’s consistently a great show here in Indio,” said Doss.

The festival is a delicious Coachella Valley favorite this time of year with tamales galore and fun attractions for the entire family.

It’s a weekend aimed at satisfying cravings and showcasing traditional dishes and local businesses.

“They’re thriving,” said Alber. “We have so much passion in what we do, it comes out in our food.”

Festivities kick off Saturday morning with a parade at 10 a.m. at Miles Avenue. The Parade Grand Marshall will be WBO Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley.

Admission to the festival is free.

Hours:
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday

Location:
The Festival is in Old Town Indio between Highway 111 and Indio Boulevard on Miles, Towne, Smurr and Requa streets.

For more information, go to tamalefestival.net