Indio Tamale Festival Dec 6-7

Indio Tamale Festival, Indio, CA
Dates: Saturday and Sunday, December 6-7, 2008
(Always the 1st weekend in December!)
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Location: Downtown Indio The Festival is between Highway 111 and Indio Boulevard and fills-in the streets of Miles, Towne, Smurr & Requa.
Weather: 79 Degrees, Sunny Days; 40 Degrees, Cool Evenings

It all started in 1992 with an idea by Dave Hernandez, a member of the Downtown Indio Merchants Association. The rich heritage of the tamale, consistent community support and hard working tamale makers have created the festival's tremendous success. Recently, the Food Network-TV ranked the Indio International Tamale Festival in the top 10 "All-American Food Festivals" in the nation!

Festival's Guinness World Records: The World's largest Tamale-over 1 foot in diameter and 40 feet in length, Dec. 4, 1999. The World's largest tamale festival-with 120,000 in attendance, Dec. 2-3, 2000.

The weather is pretty good in Indio this time of year, but nights are a little cooler. Booths are spread along several streets. Lots of tamales and they all sell for the same price. Booth fees are a bit high and overpriced. Commercial goes for $475 and if you are staying in a motel, your expenses end up quite high. Very risky for this economy. Arts and Crafts spaces go for $475