HARLINGEN — It’s been a while.
The popular Riofest celebration returns to the city Friday and Saturday, with bands, art, food and more.
And in sync with the season, and local allegiances, they’ll have big-screen TVs broadcasting college football games for fans.
This is the first Riofest since the event folded 14 years ago. It was originally put on by the Junior League of Harlingen, but the city bought the rights to the name and is bringing it back.
Cassandra Consiglio is director of the Harlingen Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
“Friday night at the Harlingen Baseball Field we have a 5K run that starts at 6:30 at the same time as Jenny and the Mexicats, and then we will have Kevin Fowler playing as well, and we’re going to have a lot of great vendors from the Rio Grande Valley just showing off all their home-made items.
“We’re also going to have an artisanal market with artists from Mexico who are coming to join us for the event,” she added. “So we’re going to have six vendors from Mexico from the cities of Guadalajara, Oaxaca, they’re all going to be joining us for the event.”
Consiglio said Riofest will offer “high-end food choices” for attendees and there will be a petting zoo and kids activities which are free and do not require a ticket.
“Saturday we also have a free portion at Lon C. Hill Park, and we’re calling it the Artpark at Riofest,” Consiglio said. “That will be all art vendors, a live muralist, a magician walking around and a clay artist will be there and we also will have a stick artist doing art-in-action. That area is free on Saturday from 12 to 6.
“Between the baseball field and the Artpark, which is what we’re calling Lon C. Hill, we’re going to have an LED screen showing the college football games,” she added. “So connecting both of the events will some college football games showing, and we’re calling it the tailgate party.”
Consiglio said the musical lineup Saturday is equally strong, starting at 12:30 p.m. with the Banditos, followed by Harlingen native Alex Coba, the Los Garcia Brothers and the Eli Young Band.
Events wrap up both nights at 10 p.m.
