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The newly minted Las Cruces Pecan Festival is coming up April 13-14. Developed to highlight the importance and impact of the pecan industry on the local economy, the event will feature the talent and organization of all things pecan in Doña Ana County.
With craft, food and beverage vendors; music and dance performances; pecan related competitions and pecan farming education this will be an event to remember, said organizer Kristen Worthington.
As a kick-off, the festival is looking for artwork for the final event poster and other event related items. An art contest featuring pecans has a deadline of Jan. 15. The theme of the competition is “Celebrating the Pecan Industry in Our Community.” Worthington said they are looking for colorful transferable images. Fifteen percent of all profits from sales of items with the chosen artwork go back to the artist. A $25 entry fee for the contest goes to support the nonprofit Wee Warriors Project. Created to support New Mexico families with babies/children born medically fragile, the funds raised stay in New Mexico.
Wee Warrior Project organizer Camille Plante said the organization focuses on families and rural entities which often don’t have the resources and budgets needed.
“We do that by supporting rural hospital entities, pediatric clinics, birthing hospitals,” she said. “A lot of them don’t have the resources they need because they don’t have NICUs (Neonatal Intensive Care Units) attached. Those babies are getting shipped to higher level NICUs and the receiving hospital has to come and pick up the baby. A lot of times those [rural locations] don’t have the resources they need to put baby in a holding pattern, so we work to support anyone that is working to support families with babies born medically fragile.”
Wee Warrior Project is the umbrella organization for the Pecan Festival, Worthington said.
As a small, local pecan grower, she has been thinking about pulling together a local pecan festival, but knowing it was too big a project to take on herself, she first had to find help and support for the event. That help came together in 2023 and Worthington couldn’t be happier about it.
“By doing this, we are letting the small growers know there is so much more you can do with your product except sending it to get shelled,” Worthington said. “We started the Las Cruces Pecan Festival wanting to help the whole community.”
Everything at the festival must be pecan-related and all proceeds from the whole event go to local nonprofits including Wee Warrior Project, she said.
Visit LasCrucesPecanFestival.com for competition rules and more about the festival. Call 575-621-2195 to talk to Worthington about your ideas.
