Salsa festival proves to be a true, community-building event

Having grown up in Phoenix, I’ve never really been involved much with festivals with the small-town feel of the Maricopa Salsa Festival Presented by inmaricopa.com.

That’s why, two months into being a homeowner in Maricopa, I didn’t pay much attention to the event when I first read about it in 85239 The Magazine last year.

We live in the Southwest, sure. And we all love chips and salsa. But having a city devote an entire day at a park celebrating the appetizer we all love to munch on while waiting for our entrees at Mexican restaurants seemed a bit, well, puzzling.

Of course, not long after coming on board as editor of inmaricopa.com, my publisher and co-workers set me straight. It’s the city’s signature event, much like Chandler had its Ostrich Festival, New Orleans has Mardi Gras and Scottsdale has its Festival of the Arts.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that bands — good ones at that — take to the stage, the chips and salsa are free, admission is free, kids get a chance to slide in cold snow and businesses, local organizations, politicians and churches have a chance to mingle and everyone, even former nay-sayers like me, can have a great time.

Unlike many, whose responsibilities required them to show up at Pacana Park at 8 a.m. Saturday, my turn helping out in the inmaricopa.com booth didn’t start until about 1 p.m., so that is when I arrived.

Silly me.

By then, the vendor parking lot was nearly full, volunteers had already given out 4,000 goody bags including one bag each of tortilla chips for use in the salsa tasting contest.

Luckily, however, a few contestants had brought chips of their own and were willing to share. Because of their foresight, I was able to sample about a half-dozen of 46 booths serving up red or green salsa delights.

I wish I had been able to sample more. (Next year, I’m bringing my own chips – and a six-pack of water bottles.)

Thanks to a local Boy Scout troop selling hot dogs for $1.50 and Polish sausages for $2, I was easily able to fill the place in my appetite I had been saving for judging salsa.

The live entertainment was also a pleasant surprise. From expert salsa dancers to live bands playing mostly cover songs, the music in the air set the mood and, no doubt, helped to keep spirits light.

Apparently an annual staple in this local event, Phoenix Helicopter was on hand providing a birds-eye view to customers who waited up to an hour and a half for a chance to climb on board.

Seeing so much of Maricopa at once was breathtaking. We truly do have a community of which we can, and should be, proud.

It’s taken some time to get me this far, and I’m by no means completely adjusted to living in a community of our size, but this die-hard big city girl is beginning to feel at home in the place, well, we all share as just that. For better or for worse, most of us will be in Maricopa for years to come. We live in a relatively small social, business and service community, and how we conduct ourselves does impact those around us. Probably more so than most of us think.

That’s why I’m glad the city has taken the initiative to provide events such as the Salsa Festival to help us bond, help us connect, and to help us grow together within our burgeoning community.

After all, if playing together is productive for individual families who wish to stay intact, how much more productive might it be for all walks of life in our city to play together, too?

So, to everyone, and I do mean everyone, who turned out yesterday to partake, participate and enjoy the Salsa Festival, on behalf of all of us at inmaricopa.com who have had the annual pleasure of sponsoring this worthy event, thanks for coming. And thanks for contributing to what, by all accounts, appears to have been a resounding success.

See you next year …

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Staff photo