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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.