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UID:Indybay-18758744
SEQUENCE:18873246
CREATED:20140717T223400Z
DESCRIPTION:It is nearly 2,200 miles from the home of El Nopal in neighboring Mexico to 
 Santa Cruz County. Yet, those who love this essential ingredient of Mexican 
 cooking need not book an airplane flight or pack themselves into the family 
 car to experience the culture and culinary wonder of nopales. Lovers of the 
 prickly cactus need only travel to downtown Santa Cruz this July to enjoy a 
 truly community building event celebrating this native food, the 5th Annual 
 Festival del Nopal.\n\nFor hundreds of years, the cactus, particularly the 
 prickly pear cactus, has long been a staple in the diet of many Mexican and 
 Latin American people. Also revered as a source of national pride in 
 Mexico, the prickly pear cactus is featured on the Mexican flag with an 
 eagle standing atop the cactus and a serpent caught in its beak to 
 symbolize the location where the ancient Aztecs were instructed by their 
 gods to build the great City of Tenochtitlan, where Mexico City now stands. 
 It was this native pride that gave rise to the original idea for a local 
 celebration of el nopal.\n\nIn 2010, a group led by former Santa Cruz City 
 Council Member Tony Madrigal came together to organize and plan the event 
 now known as the Festival Del Nopal. From its modest beginnings in an open 
 space next the downtown library, the festival has grown rapidly and now 
 welcomes several thousand festivalgoers and lovers of nopales every 
 year.\n\nNow in its fifth year, Festival del Nopal has settled into its new 
 home on Lincoln Street in downtown Santa Cruz, appropriately enough on the 
 site of the weekly Farmer’s Market. Once again, people will travel from 
 all over the Central Coast to dance to the bandas, enjoy the folkloric, 
 laugh with the clowns, enter their own family recipes in the cooking 
 contest and applaud the crowning of the Queen of the Festival.\n\nBut what 
 makes Festival del Nopal truly unique is the opportunity it provides to 
 experience a Mexican heritage and culture that is such a vibrant part of 
 life on the Central Coast. Festival organizers are justifiably proud of the 
 contribution this event makes to community building and cultural 
 understanding in our home region. They believe that the richness of our 
 ethnic diversity can be celebrated through the mutual enjoyment of dance, 
 song and food.\n\nIt is said “as el nopal binds the food of life, so it 
 will create the bonds of friendship and family for all those who join 
 together in celebration”. So come join the family of el nopal in downtown 
 Santa Cruz on Sunday, July 27th from 10-6.\n\nViva Nopales!\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/07/17/18758744.php
SUMMARY:5th Annual Festival del Nopal
LOCATION:176 Lincoln Street\nSanta Cruz, CA 95060
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/07/17/18758744.php
DTSTART:20140727T170000Z
DTEND:20140728T010000Z
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