Serving the High Plains

Cinco de Mayo bash set for Saturday

The City of Tucumcari and Mesalands Community College are joining forces to throw a Cinco de Mayo celebration on Saturday.

The Tucumcari Convention Center at 1500 W. Route 66 Blvd. will host two musical acts from 8 a.m. to midnight Saturday. Performing will be Peter Vigil and The All-Star Band, plus the Colorado AllStarz.

Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the doors, which open at 7 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased at Mesalands, the City of Tucumcari or the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce. For more information, call (575) 461-3451, Ext. 1.

From 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, the west parking lot of Mesalands will host food trucks, game booths, face painting, pony rides, bounce houses and shows by Mariachi Elvis and Miguel Timoteo. Pinatas also will be set up for all ages.

A car show will be held outside the college’s North American Wind Research and Training Center.

The parents of the late Tejano entertainer Ernestine Romero, Willie and Olivia Romero, also will provide music throughout the day.

Ernestine, 32, who performed at previous Cinco de Mayo celebrations at Mesalands and at the New Mexico Music Showcase in Tucumcari, was slain by her estranged husband in 2019 near the state Capitol in Santa Fe.

The event receives assistance from the city’s lodgers tax fund.

The American Legion Post 20 also is hosting a chili cookoff from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday with cash prizes. The post also will hold a cake walk and bake sale.