Fiesta De Las Calabazas Home Page

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 it’s 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.

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 welcomes back live music by “Tortolita Gutpluckers” from 1pm-3pm on the Main Stage, playing desert bluegrass featuring banjo, guitar, vocals, fiddle and tub bass. Opening up the event at 11am, female duo “InAscent” will perform with guitar, harmonica and vocals.

Also on the Main Stage at 12pm, listen in to a Chautauqua Program with literary actor Kim Stone portraying Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) and answering audience questions in character. Learn more about this influential wildlife conservationist, archer, teacher and author of A Sand County Almanac, who first came to the Arizona Territories in 1909 to work for the US Forest Service. Arizona State Parks is celebrating the life and writings of Aldo Leopold in centennial celebrations held at parks throughout the state this year.

Desert Harvesters of Tucson will set up a “hammer-mill” during the event, for grinding mesquite pods into flour for home-cooking use. The public is invited to bring buckets of clean pods for milling. $3 per run of 3-5 gallon bucket/bags of pods goes to Friends of Oracle State Park, who are sponsoring the hammer-mill. Mesquite pods are nutritious and the flour gives traditional baked goods a distinctive sweet flavor. Local vendors will be on hand selling products made from wild foods, including mesquite jelly and syrup, mesquite pancake mixes, jellies and syrups made from prickly pear fruit; also products made from bees; homegrown squash bread and more.

Now in it’s 10th year, the Fiesta de las Calabazas will continue to highlight the cultural and natural diversity of the Oracle area, along with local talent. Take a guided tour of the historic Kannally Ranch House. Authors include: Herbalist, Charlie Kane, with a display of useful wild roots and second edition copies of his book, Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest. Aldo Leopold scholar, David E. Brown, will be on hand for book signings. Evaline Auerbach will provide books by Aldo Leopold and more.

Arizona Game and Fish will host an Aldo Leopold Archery Event at the corrals. Sign up for a FREE 30 minute group lesson beginning at 11:00am, 11:30, 12:30pm, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, and 2:30. Ages 8 to adult are welcome. Call (520) 896-2425 to reserve a preferred start time. Open slots are available the day of the event also.

Friends of Oracle State Park will host the Pumpkin Patch, with pumpkins and gourds for kids of all ages to decorate and take home. Look for the FOSP Plant Sale, mesquite-based recipes, Calabazas Tote Bags for sale and more. Kids activities will also include Ed Moll of the Tucson Herpetological Society, with live reptiles.

Lunch is available from 11am-3pm, featuring vendors “Not Jus Doggs” selling hotdogs, Italian sausage, chips, drinks & more. Or enjoy Mexican burritos, carne asada and other selections by Rita Pina.

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. Though sadly the park will close to the public beginning October 1 because of state budget shortfalls, the day of the special event the main park gate and Kannally Ranch House will be open from 8am-4pm, Saturday, October 3 only. For more information, 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.

Arizona State Parks Celebrates Aldo Leopold

At the corrals - The Aldo Leopold Archery Activity for age 8 to adult is FREE. Groups or families wanting to reserve a preferred start time for the 1/2 hour lesson should call ahead for a reservation (896-2425) before October 3rd.

A free group lesson is offered every half hour beginning at 11am; the last lesson begins at 2:30pm. Space will be available to sign up the day of the event also.

Joanne Roberts, Resource Ecologist for Arizona State Parks, will be available to talk about Natural Areas and Natural Resource Management Strategies. She brings a guest, David E. Brown, ASU Professor and Aldo Leopold scholar with books he wrote about and co-wrote with Aldo Leopold. He'll be next to the Natural Resource Management table for book-signings of Leopold books and ivorybill woodpecker books.

The Arizona State Parks Giftshop Booth will also sell Leopold books - Aldo Leopold in the Southwest and The Wolf in the Southwest:The Making of an Endangered Species by David E. Brown.

Visit the”Friends of OSP” 2009 Booth

Friends of Oracle State Park is proud and excited to be a part of this years 10th Anniversary Calabazas event! Our members have worked hard this year to continue our support and sponsor many educational Programs, trail signs, garden signage, signage on Highway 77 and American Ave., music for the Spring Concert Series, not to mention a new marketing plan.

At this years event FOSP will be sponsoring the Hammermill (for grinding your mesquite beans), the live music, and FREE Pumpkins and Gourds for the children to paint and decorate. Please support us so we can continue to support this unique and special park, right here in your backyard!

Stop by the Friend Booth so we can meet you and talk about the various Friends of Oracle State Park projects and volunteer opportunities. Don't miss the chance to purchase Entertainment Books, Plants & Seeds from the OSP Garden Committee, “Green” Shopping Bags, Mesquite beans for grinding, Prickly Pear Lemonade, Lee Kannally t-shirts and more… And of course we will have our FOSP Membership Forms!

"Nothing Was Ever Accomplished Without Enthusiasium”

Mailing List - If you wish to get on our Oracle Music and Cultural Events mailing list, please send email to Diamond Jim including your name, address, and telephone number. We are currently building a list for notification of concerts, art openings, and other special events in Oracle and vicinity. We will under no circumstances sell, rent, or give away your name and address to anyone.

Thanks to our 2008 Benefactors

Hardin Brothers Automotive

Site last updated Sept. 20, 2009 You are visitor # 27679

Web site design and hosting by Hewitt Consulting Enterprises