5th Annual New Mexico Prickly Pear Festival

Hey prickly pear people we are so excited to be back for our 5th Annual Prickly Pear Festival, returning to the Gutierrez Hubbell House (6029 Isleta Blvd SW) for another festival filled with food, art, music, and more celebrating everything prickly pear. We've got all kinds of things for cooks and eaters with cooking demos, tastings, and vendor market and this year we’re packing everything into one with programming for farmers, ranchers, and gardeners all in the same day! And we’ve got quite the day in store for you.

We’ll have a stocked vendor market with 60 plus vendors selling all kinds of prickly pear eats, treats, arts, crafts, bath & body products and more. Then for our prickly pear cooks and eaters we’ll have cooking demos from Israel Rivera, the chef and owner of The Shop, and Lfrom our partners at Three Sisters Kitchen. A refreshing prickly pear cocktail and mocktail demo, with Paige Alvarez of Sugar Moon Syrups and folks from Hollow Spirits Distillery. As well as a full prickly pear cocktail class with Hollow Spirits (tickets sold separately here).Then registered dietitian and owner of Tumbleweed Nutrition, Denee Bex, will be talking to folks about some of the nutritional benefits of prickly pear and their role in functional diets, as well as their place in diets of Native and Indigenous communities of the Southwest.

Throughout the day we’ll two different prickly per arts and crafts activies. Including two prickly per print making works from OffCenter Arts as well as two natural dye workshops with Kalyn Finnell, using natural dye from cochineal, the prickly pear cactus insect.

Finally, to round out the afternoon, coming to our prickly pear stage, we’ll have performances by Ailani, Almost Always Never, and Gold Tides.

Then inside the Hubbell House we'll have all our programming focused for farmers, ranchers, and gardners including a talk from Kactas Foods, a nearly two decade old prickly pear nopal based company from Mexico, about some of the challenges and opportunities of using prickly pear as part of a food business.

As well as a talk around using prickly pear and other arid adapted crops in agriculutral systems and receiving funding for these kinds of sustainable practices with Lorenzo Dominguez owner of Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms

And a workshop on start or growning an add-value food business using prickly pear with Amber Benson-Lehmer, part of NMSU's Bernalillo County Extension

We hope you’ll join us for this year’s festival!

Schedule:

Outdoors Activities

10:00 - 10:30 AM: Opening

Our festival and vendor market opens, with vendors selling all kinds of prickly pear food, beverages, arts, and crafts. For a full list of vendors visit our vendor page

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM: Prickly Pear Print Making

OffCenter Arts will lead festival goers in making their own prickly pear silk screened prints with block prickly pear ink. Create your own beautiful prickly pear inspired art, at one of two sessions throughout the day.

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM: Prickly Pear Salsa Demo

To start off the day’s demos, Lilia Avila of the Three Sisters Kitchen and owner of Fiesta Food on Wheels will be showing festival goers how to make a roasted prickly pear and jalapeno salsa using a Molcajete.

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Prickly Pear Cochineal Dye Workshop

Led by Gutierrez Hubbell House contributor Kayln Finnell, in this workshop attendees will dye fabric together with cochineal insects, which live on the pads of the nopal and have been harvested for dyeing for centuries. While getting their  our hands dirty, festival goers will learn about the history of dyeing with cochineal, as well as the processes involved in natural dyeing.

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM: From Tradition to Health: The Role of Prickly Pear in Indigenous Communities

Come learn about the nutritional benefits of prickly pear and its traditional and continued use in Native communities with Denee Bex award-winning Registered Dietitian from the Diné (Navajo) Nation and owner of Tumbleweed Nutrition.

12:30 - 1:30 PM: Prickly Pear Print Making

Another round prickly pear silk screen prints with prickly pear ink led by OffCenter Arts. Create your own beautiful prickly pear inspired art, final session of the day.

12:30 - 1:30 PM: Prickly Pear Cocktails & Mocktails

Come learn how to make some refreshing prickly pear drinks, both with and without alcohol. Paige Alvarez of Sugar Moon Syrups will whip up some stunning prickly pear mocktails that festival goers can recreate at home and the folks from Hollow Spirits Distillery will be showing attendees how to make a boozy prickly pear drink.

1:30 - 2:30 PM: Prickly Pear Vinaigrette & Prickly Pear Butter Demo

Festival goers will learn how to make some delicious prickly pear spread and dressing with Israel Rivera, chef and owner of The Shop. Israel will be showing folks how to prepare a prickly pear vinaigrette for dressing a salad, as well as a spreadable prickly pear butter, that will go on top of crostini with some pork loin and prickly pear vinaigrette dressed greens for attendees to sample

1:30 - 2:30: Prickly Pear Cochineal Dye Workshop

The last arts and crafts event of the day, Kayln Finnell, will lead a second natural dye workshop using cochineal insects, which live on the pads of the nopal and have been harvested for dyeing for centuries.

2:30 - 4:00: Prickly Pear Cocktail Class

In addition to the free prickly pear cocktail and mocktail demos at the festival, Hollow Spirits will also be doing a full prickly pear cocktail class where attendees will get hands on experience making 3 delicious Prickly Pear inspired cocktails featuring spirits by Hollow Spirits Distillery! Tickets are sold separately and can be purchased here.

2:30 - 4:00 PM: Welcoming to the Prickly Pear Stage:

We have an awesome line up of local artists to grace our prickly pear festival stage including

Ailani
Almost, Always, Never
Gold Tides Inside the
Gutierrez Hubbell House
Programming for farmers, ranchers, and gardeners

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM: Challenges and Opportunities of a Prickly Pear Based Business

Representative from Kactas Foods, a two decade old prickly pear nopal based company from Mexico, about some of the challenges and opportunities of using prickly pear as part of a food business.

11:30 - 12:30 PM: Growing Regenerative Landscapes and Getting Them Funded

A conversation around using prickly pear and other arid adapted crops in agricultural systems and receiving funding for these kinds of sustainable practices with Lorenzo Dominguez owner of Hacienda Dominguez & Chelenzo Farms

1:00 - 2:00 PM: Starting or Growing an Added-Value Prickly Pear Food Business

Lean how to create or grow an added-value food business using prickly pear with  NMSU’s Bernalillo County Extension and Family and Consumer Science Agent Amber Benson-Lehmer. She’ll be talking to folks considering using and growing prickly pear for added value products like pickling, preserving, and more about where to start, including a pickling demonstration and prickly pear preserve tasting.

Date: September 23, 2023

Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm

Location: Gutierrez-Hubbell House - 6029 Isleta Blvd. SW Albuquerque, NM 87105

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