The 10th Annual
Fiesta de las Calabazas
will be held on Saturday,
October 3, 2009
At Oracle State Park in Oracle, Arizona
From 11am to 3pm

The Fiesta de las Calabazas was founded in 2000 as a pumpkin or harvest festival to celebrate the beginning of the fall season in southern Arizona.  Now in its 10th year, the Fiesta de las Calabazas will continue to highlight the cultural and natural diversity of the Oracle area, as well as local talent.

October 3rd Fiesta de las Calabazas
Celebrates Aldo Leopold and Wild Foods

All event parking for the public is on-site at Oracle State Park this year.  The normal park entrance fee of $6 per vehicle will apply.

Oracle’s own harvest festival will feature the wonders of the mesquite tree and a sampling of recipes made from local wild foods. Desert Harvesters of Tucson will set up their hammermill at the event, for grinding mesquite pods into flour for home cooking use.  The public is invited to bring buckets of clean pods for milling.  Contact the park for more information on use of the hammermill during the festival (520-896-2425).

Also at the festival this year, Arizona State Parks celebrates the life and writings of Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), the Father of Wildlife Conservation. Learn more about the author of A Sand County Almanac, who first came to the Arizona Territories in 1909 to work for the US Forest Service.  “During his tenure, he began to see the land as a living organism and develop the concept of community.  This concept became the foundation upon which he became conservation’s most influential advocate.” (leopoldcelebration.org)

The historic Kannally Ranch House will be open for guided tours.  There will be live music, food, pumpkins, gourds, kids’ activities and more at the Group Use Area and Corrals.  Arizona Game and Fish will host an archery activity for adults and kids.  Reservations are suggested, with slots open for sign-up at the event as well.

Oracle State Park, Center for Environmental Education, is a 4,000-acre wildlife refuge, set on the old Kannally Ranch in the northern foothills of the Catalina Mountains.  The park is located in the town of Oracle, approximately 45 minutes north of Tucson off of Highway 77.  For more information or to inquire about volunteering a shift at the festival, call the park office at (520) 896-2425.

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us.  When we see land as a commodity to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”  -Aldo Leopold

Click here for directions and park information.

For more information or if you would like to volunteer to help out with the festival, call 520-896-2425 or send email to Jennifer Rinio.