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PrintWAR Headlines Indio Tamale Festival Entertainment
The fun-packed weekend also includes a variety of music, a parade and carnival
JIM POWERS
The vintage musical group, WAR, headlines the entertainment portion of the 21st annual Indio International Tamale Festival.
lanzagroup.com
While the focus is certainly on the food at the Indio International Tamale Festival, there is a lot going on for festival-goers.
See related story: Indio International Tamale Festival is a Foodies Haven
- Runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec, 1-2. Admission is free.
- Parking. Logistics are good to figure out before you get there. The festival takes up four streets around downtown Indio - Miles. Towne, Smurr and Requa. Parking, like admission, is free. There are also free shuttles that run constantly at the Larson Justice Center, 46-200 Oasis St., from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.
- Navigate the booths and get yourself a tamale early before the lines get long.
- Four stages of entertainment - three have beer gardens. One stage features all Mariachi, all the time; another offers a variety of Hispanic groups and the third spotlights kid dance and singing groups. The legendary rock group, WAR, headlines the festival with a show at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.Arts and crafts vendors will sell their wares.
- A pair of Guinness World Records have been set at the festival: largest tamale (1 foot in diameter, 40 feet long) and largest attendance for a tamale festival (120,000 in 2000).
- More than 300 volunteers help with festival logistics.
- There is a festival holiday parade, starting at 10 a.m. Saturday on Miles Avenue heading east to Oasis Street and south into the heart of the festival.
- Carnival rides and games, rock climbing wall inflatable bounce houses and a kids' petting zoo.
- Weather forecast: 76 on Saturday and 79 on Sunday.
