Conner’s Tamalada Festival draws a crowd
The smell of tamales was in the air, the echo of an accordion heard from down the street, people yelling “Jalisco” with the sound of corn grinding, some nostalgic but new sounds you can find at The Conner E. Museum’s first Tamalada Festival.
Held on Sept. 24, the Tamalada Festival is a cultural activity created to inform everyone in attendance about Hispanic heritage and the importance of keeping traditions alive all while having fun and enjoying tamales.
“Tamaladas are the coming together of families where they make tamales. For South Texas and Hispanic culture in general, food, family and tradition are the kinds of things that build upon what Hispanic heritage is,” Director of Conner Museum Kathy Pawelek said. “We wanted to create an event here where the entire Kingsville community could feel at home.”
The event kicked off with a corn grinding demonstration given by Dr. Marco Íñiguez-Alba. As he was demonstrating, he was also explaining the importance of its origins in relation to Hispanic culture now.
The educational demonstration was followed by a game of Loteria Javelina, hosted by Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) Staff Council. The popular game packed the house and was followed by many more exciting events like student poem readings, a best boots contest and an interactive masa spreading demonstration given by sophomore Cielo Saenz.
“I participated in the demonstration because I saw it as a way to spread my culture because I really like it,” Saenz said. “I find it really fun and having the opportunity to tell others about it was an honor.”
Saenz explained that one of her professors reached out to her to ask if she wanted to do the masa spreading demonstration. She saw it as an opportunity to participate in events to get herself out there.
Families in attendance also got to hear from Joey Villanueva y Su Conjunto.
The celebration didn’t stop outdoors. It continued indoors with a children’s coloring and craft station, a photography exhibit, and a story time at the top of every hour. Guests also got to enjoy free food and refreshments.
The festival could not have taken place without the contributions of Pawelek, Cynthia Vidaurri with the Smithsonian Institute, and student and faculty volunteers.
“I kind of oversaw [the event], but we did have a lot of people doing a lot of things,” Pawelek said. “I worked with each of the groups that were coordinating things, worked through the logistics, but overall, it was a group effort.”
Pawelek also accredits Senior Administrative Coordinator Cindy Villalon for helping out and making sure the event ran smoothly.
The festival took place during TAMUK Family Weekend and was open to the public. Students and parents were able to enjoy an exciting and educational event.
“I came out to this event with my son and to see what it was all about,” TAMUK parent Abigail Rivera said. “I really enjoyed the event. I was most interested in seeing all the corn-grinding and the masa demonstration. It’s really nice to know the stories behind these traditions.”
Families also had an opportunity to play Loteria together during the event with special cards that included places like the bell tower, the javelina and KTAI-Radio station.
“I think the event has gone really well, really just beyond anything we could’ve imagined,” Pawelek said. “We are so happy; we’ve brought in a lot of people both familiar and unfamiliar with our the museum and the campus so I’m really happy about that.”
Appearances by President Dr. Robert Vela, Mayor of Kingsville Sam Fugate and Vice President of Enrollment Services and Student Affairs Dr. Rito Silva were made.
“We have a couple of things in the works, but the plan for now is to prepare for our centennial exhibit. We’re really excited about that,” Pawelek said.
Conner Museum plans on hosting more events later on. For more information, contact the John E. Conner Museum at (361)-593-2819 or email them at connermuseum@tamuk.edu.
“The festival was meant to be educational, family-friendly and to really just highlight our culture and I think we did that. The best thing to me was having all these different kinds of groups work together to bring everyone together and make this festival a memorable one. That’s why we’re here and that’s what we want to do for our community,” Pawelek said
