Pueblos del Maíz takes on a double meaning.
Maíz as in “maize,” as in “corn,” as in the stuff that grows on cobs. Pueblo as in “town,” but also as in “peoples.” Tucson is a Pueblo del Maíz, a place and people responsible for 5,000 years of documented history of corn cultivation, which is among the reasons Tucson earned its UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation in 2015.
“That’s the longest agricultural history that’s been documented in what is now the U.S.,” said Jonathan Mabry, executive director of Tucson City of Gastronomy. “Corn is central to Tucson’s food cultures and food history. It’s a very apt name for the purpose and symbolism of the festival.”
The Fiesta del Maíz takes place Saturday, Sept. 26, and is accompanied by related events that require online registration.
The festival is a collaborative, traveling affair, shared between Merida, Mexico, Bergamo, Italy, San Antonio and Tucson. Locally, Pueblos del Maíz celebrates the “cultural and culinary significance of maize and its enduring role in shaping the cuisines and identities of the Arizona-Sonora borderlands across generations,” its website says.
The festival week kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 24, with a free tour at native seeds/SEARCH, Tucson’s own heirloom seed conservation and banking facility.
The opening culinary event, Sabores del Pueblo, will occur the same evening at Tucson Gastropark. The event will feature live music from local Americana trio Hey Bucko!, tastings from two Sonoran bacanora producers, and food by award winning chefs Jose Contreras (Amelia’s Mexican Kitchen); Claudia Vindiola (La Frida Mexican Grill and Seafood); Nick Avram (Sawmill Run Restaurant); and Devin Sanner and Travis Peters (UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassadors).
“These are some of the most talked about chefs in Tucson right now,” Mabry said. “This is going to be a great event with five of Tucson’s top young chefs, and the food will be off the charts.”
Tickets to the Sabores del Pueblo dinner, priced at $75, are available through the Pueblos del Maíz website.
On Friday, Pima Community College Desert Vista campus will host free, open-to-all maíz cooking demos by Tucson City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassadors Aris Cabrera and Angela Garcia.
Saturday’s “Saving Ancient Seeds to Feed Us Tomorrow” will be an “urgent and hopeful conversation about saving traditional maize varieties to feed us in a changing world,” the website says. Speakers include Alexandra Zamecnic, director of Native Seed/SEARCH; Antonio Rottigini, who is reviving maize farming in Bergamo through the “Slow Mays” initiative; Duran Andrews, farm manager of the Tohono O’odham San Xavier Cooperative Farm; and Xóchitl Valdés, who runs a restaurant concept “cooking with and serving traditional maize varieties of the Yucatan region of Mexico,” Mabry said.
Then the festivities will move to the south side’s Kennedy Park for the main event, the Fiesta del Maíz.
“We expect a huge turnout to come to Kennedy Park,” Mabry said.
The fiesta features a live music lineup headlined by Mexican band Los Apson.
“They were very famous all across Mexico and Arizona during the 1970s and were known as the Beatles of Mexico, played that early rock-and-roll style in Spanish,” Mabry said. “They’re all in their 70s and 80s now, and they just got back together recently and started playing together again, and they’re having a ball.”
The rest of the lineup comprises two mariachi bands, one being a student group from John E. White Elementary School, Tohono O’odham Waila (chicken scratch) music, Folklorico dancing, and Mexica and Aztec ceremonial dancing.
Between sets, visiting chefs from the other Pueblo del Maíz cities will perform cooking demonstrations, complete with free tastings of the dishes. There will also be live mural painting, crafts for sale, face painting, and, of course, local food vendors.
“I believe all of them are from the south side of Tucson, and that’s where Kennedy Park is located, and so we’re bringing the party to the south side with the Fiesta del Maíz.”
A final “Noche de las Tres Hermanas” dinner, scheduled for Sunday night, will bring together chefs from the three visiting cities, including the aforementioned Xóchitl Valdés, who won the MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2026 Best Young Chef Award, Mehdi El Omari, a renowned chef from Bergamo, and San Antonio’s Lizzeth Martinez, who has made appearances on Netflix’s “Taco Chronicles,” and Food Network’s “Carnival Eats.”
“This is perhaps our biggest edition of the festival, and we’re excited that we have such great sponsors.” Mabry said.
“We plan a whole year in advance for this festival, and we’re really excited about this year, and we hope a lot of people come to these events. We do it for the community.”
TUCSON FIESTA DEL MAÍZ
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 26, 3 p.m. – 9 p.m.
WHERE: Kennedy Park, 3700 S. Mission Rd, Tucson.
COST: Free
MORE INFO: pueblosdelmaiz.com
