Tastes and Tunes Festival set to return

View file photoTastes and Tunes festivalgoers ride a carnival roller coaster at last year?s event. This year?s festival is set for May 4 and 5. A food vendor keeps an eye on his barbecued ribs and chicken at last year?s Tastes and Tunes Festival. This year?s event will feature food from Martino?s Mexican Grill, Las Gorditas, Baja Fresh, R&C Thai Chinese BBQ, Mr. J?s Catfish, Maui Wowi Hawaiian and more.View file photo Advertisement

This year will mark the fifth year of the increasingly popular Tastes and Tunes Festival founded by the city of North Las Vegas.

The free food and music festival held on City Hall grounds, 2200 Civic Center Drive, has grown from modest numbers in the beginning to attract crowds of more than 35,000.

North Las Vegas started Tastes and Tunes as a festival celebrating the diversity of the city. Originally, the festival always fell on a weekend at the end of April or the beginning of May. Organizers said that it eventually made sense to make Cinco de Mayo a major part of the regular festivities.

"It seemed to sort of fall around Cinco de Mayo, so we started to play that up," said Anessa Snowden, North Las Vegas recreation programmer.

This year, the festival runs from 5 to 11 p.m. May 4 and continues from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. May 5.

The Mexican Village, with its adobe decorations, food from local Mexican restaurants and Hispanic dancers and musicians, was the toast of last year's festival, and organizers say it looks like it's here to stay. The village will mark its second year at the festival with food from Martino's Mexican Grill, Las Gorditas, Baja Fresh and other Mexican restaurants.

Artists from Las Vegas and other cities will perform on the Fiesta Stage. Many of the musicians, like Dallas-based Tejano band Ambixion and Las Florecitas from Albuquerque, N.M., play music that is uniquely Mexican-American. A Mexican dance group from Chicago also will perform.

"We wanted to bring more of the Hispanic community into the event," Snowden said.

All the old standbys will be back again, too, including Barry's Boxing Center. The center's students have been duking it out in the ring transported from the boxing gym since the beginning of Tastes and Tunes. Run by Dawn Barry and her daughter Dawn Sanchez, Barry's Boxing's motto is "We teach the science not the violence." Amateur boxing bouts between athletes ranging from early teens to adults are set to take place from 7 to 9 p.m. May 4, and from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. May 5. The bouts are certified by USA boxing, and a doctor and judges will be on site.

Food vendors, including R&C Thai Chinese BBQ, Mr. J's Catfish and Maui Wowi Hawaiian, will add to the diversity of tastes at the festival.

Musical offerings will be rounded out on the Budweiser main stage by headliners Brick and Con Funk Shun, musicians who blend funk, soul and R&B. The remaining roster of musicians scheduled to perform includes blues singer Michelle Lundeen and Blues Streak, Mark St. Mary with his authentic French zydeco, and the David Maldonado Group's flamenco with an updated twist.

Visitors also can shop for a variety of crafts, clothes and housewares at a marketplace and enjoy a carnival with rides and games.

Residents will have an opportunity to submit proposed names for a new retail/residential project at a booth sponsored by www.theheartofnorthlasvegas.com. Prizes include a shopping spree at the planned center and a full scholarship for a school-age child to any accredited school in the United States. The winners will be announced at the city's annual Independence Day Jubilee.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit the city's Web site at www.ci.north-las-vegas.nv.us.