It’s an event that made its debut in 2022 and spans across multiple culinary scenes in the U.S., Mexico, and Italy.
The nonprofit Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCoG) now hosts the annual international Pueblos Del Maíz festival, which celebrates the gastronomies, histories, and food cultures of maíz (corn) in Tucson.
Each year this international event starts in Tucson, where maíz has been cultivated for more than 4,000 years, then moves through each of the other UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy.
Cities other than Tucson that have participated in the festival included San Antonio, Texas, Mérida, Mexico, and Bergamo-Gandino, Italy — the cities differ each year while some have participated in all three festivals so far.
Pueblos del Maíz in Tucson is a four-day celebration of the role that maíz plays in Southern Arizona’s food heritage, gastronomy, and culture. Centered in downtown Tucson, the festival also extends to Mission Garden, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Kennedy Park, and other venues across the city.
One of the events during the multi-day festival is a free fiesta! There’s a lot happening at these feistas, too, like street food and bands, cooking demonstrations by visiting chefs, interactive art installations, and free educational tours, demonstrations, and presentations on the theme of maíz.
Another highlight of Pueblos del Maíz is a one-of-a-kind a maíz-themed collaborative dinner local award-winning chefs from the Gastronomic Union of Tucson (GUT) and visiting chefs from Texas, Mexico, and Italy.
To learn more about this year’s Pueblos del Maíz festival, visit Tucson Foodie.
