Hatch Chile Festival is back

The Hatch Chile Festival returns on Labor Day weekend, September 4 and 5, in Hatch. This year’s festival is being organized by the Hatch Valley Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with community members, businesses, and various organizations from the Hatch Valley.

The all-new, in-town festival experience will make it easy to shop the streets of Hatch and satisfy everyone’s chile fix at local shops and restaurants while experiencing the traditional vendors and events that have always made the Hatch Chile Festival known throughout the U.S. and the world.

“We’re excited to be hosting this year’s chile festival in town so that visitors can enjoy the same authentic Hatch Valley Chile experience that we enjoy all year-round,” said Melva Aguirre, owner of the Pepper Pot Restaurant in Hatch.

This year’s festival will include a parade, carnival, and entertainment provided by local businesses along with volleyball, soccer, and softball tournaments.

“Having the entire community come together to put on this year’s festival in a big, new way like this is an important step to getting ready to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Hatch Chile Festival next year on the grand scale it deserves,” said Lisa Neal, President of the Hatch Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The Hatch Chile Festival was founded in the early 1970s to celebrate the annual chile harvest from the Hatch Valley fields. The annual festival promotes world-famous Hatch chile on Labor Day weekend, attracting over 30,000 visitors from around the U.S. and the world. Hatch chile is considered among the highest quality found in the world. Festival goers sample chile and world famous chile recipes.

For updates and additional information as it becomes availing, visit online at: hatchchilefestival.org. For more information about vendor opportunities at this year’s Hatch Chile Festival, contact Lisa Neal at 575-267-5132 or email her at hatchvalleychamber@gmail.com.