Fiesta De Las Calabazas Home Page

The 9th Annual
Fiesta de las Calabazas
will be held on Saturday,
October 25, 2008
at Oracle State Park in Oracle, Arizona
from 10 AM to 5 PM.

The Fiesta de las Calabazas was founded in 2000 as a pumpkin or harvest festival to celebrate the beginning of the fall season in southern Arizona. The 2002 event was the first at the beautiful Oracle State Park venue. The Fiesta de las Calabazas promotes eco-tourism and heritage-tourism, fosters awareness of the natural environment, and showcases the cultural and artistic diversity present in the communities of Oracle, San Manuel, and Mammoth as well as neighboring towns in southern Arizona.
Click here for directions and park information.

Ride the shuttle bus to the festival site from the Oracle Courthouse Parking lot north of the Post Office and pay only $2 per person (ages 13 & under free). There is no additional charge to attend the festival or concerts. The festival will go from 10 AM to 5 PM, with the first shuttle from town leaving the Courthouse at 9:30 AM.

New Parking Policy - Because of space limitations on-site parking will be limited to those with handicapped stickers or others needing special assistance. The normal entrance fee of $6.00 per carload (up to 4 people; additional people, walk-ins and bicycles are $2.00 per person) will apply. Children 13 and under, free. Volunteers, vendors and performers will also be able to park on-site at no charge. A specially marked parking area will be available for this purpose.

For more information or if you would like to volunteer to help out with the festival, call 520-896-2425 or send email to Jennifer Rinio.

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A Note from the Fiesta de las Calabazas Organizers:
As we began planning for the 2008 9th Annual Fiesta de las Calabazas, we felt compelled to focus on the strong and very popular aspects of the event. We determined those to be the Kid’s Area, Music and Food. The Rangers at Oracle State Park also requested that the Environmental Education and Wildlife Refuge aspects of the park’s mission statement be included. To this end, we will be inviting agencies and organizations from throughout Arizona to provide various demonstrations or presentations. These will be “green” focused, or will pertain to environmental education or the local flora and fauna. And most importantly, we want to make sure that this festival is FUN and community oriented.

The layout of the festival will change as well. All activities will be held at the Group Use Area and the corrals just beyond. The music stage will be under one of the ramadas with good food booths all around, so you can eat and listen and watch top notch music at the same time! As we will not have Arts and Crafts vendors this year, we will not have any activities taking place at the Kannally Ranch House or parking lot. The gift shop will remain open and the house will be open for self-guided tours. If you are an Arts and Crafts vendor and are interested in participating in the Oracle Community Center’s Holiday Bazaar, email me your information and I will pass it along to the center.

Should you have any questions or comments, please address them to Tina at cristxa2@azstateparks.gov

Oct. 12, 2008 - Benefactors list updated, Kids Stage Activitities added, and New Events page. View the new green Calabazas Tote Bag which will be available for purchase.

Sept. 21, 2008 - Fiesta 2008 flyer is available for download. Get it Here. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher.

Aug 13, 2008 - Updated Food Booth Vendors form has been uploaded. Get it Here.

Aug 3, 2008 - Musicians line up has been posted for the main stage.

July 18, 2008 - Dessert in the Desert - The most successful Dessert in the Desert yet brought out a rough estimate of 110 people and $280 in donations, as well as a number of volunteers. Thanks to all who attended and brought desserts, and especially to our donors and volunteers..

Sign up as a volunteer to help at the October 25 festival! Get involved as a Calabazas Sponsor, Food Vendor, Artist; or sign up to offer an interactive demonstration or activity to promote greener living and wildlife education. Be the first to glimpse the 2008 calabazas art design and hear what’s new with the upcoming fall festival, including live music line-up, fine gourd art and more. There is no fee to attend Dessert in the Desert but donations will benefit the Fiesta de las Calabazas.

Oct 11, 2007 - The Best of Calabazas 2003-2006 CD's are available at the Oracle State Park gift shop.

2007 Sponsors & Donors

A special thanks to our sponsors from last year:
To our group of Major Sponsors:

• Diamond Development
• Fairfield Homes
• Hardin Brothers
• Eagle Crest
• The San Manuel Miner
• The Oracle Newspaper
• RAMMED EARTH
• Pinal County Supervisors
• Rockworks
• Hewitt Consulting Enterprises, LLC

Thanks to our group of COMMUNITY and GENERAL Sponsors:

• ELBOE - Evaline’s Auerbach’s Local Books
• Patricia and Patrick Schifano
• STREAK RECORDS – Michael Carrol

This year’s Calabazas Times was a combination effort on the part of lots of
folks but especially: • Kate Horton • Giovanna Hesley
• Lynn Perez-Hewitt • Jennifer Rinio
• Tina Acosta and, as always, • Bill John.

Mailing List - If you wish to get on our Oracle Music and Cultural Events mailing list, please send email to Diamond Jim including your name, address, and telephone number. We are currently building a list for notification of concerts, art openings, and other special events in Oracle and vicinity. We will under no circumstances sell, rent, or give away your name and address to anyone except the organizers of those events, who will be provided with a set of mailing labels or a email roster only.

Thanks to our Benefactors

Hardin Brothers Automotive

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