Heritage Days 2021 will be the first major event for Portales since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the spring of 2020. With plenty of music, food and events on tap it promises to be a true celebration this year,
“This year’s event will see a few changes but they are either something new or will have minimal impact and keep everyone safe,” said Karl Terry, Executive Director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce. “We’re just so happy to be able to put on an event for the community and we think folks are ready to unwind.”
The event officially gets under way on Friday, July 16 with the Heritage Days Street Dance in the Memorial Building parking lot. Some of the festival’s food vendors will open at 6 p.m. and then the dance, with music from The Blackwater Band runs from 7-10 p.m.
On Saturday, July 17 the day starts out at 7 a.m. with setup in the park for vendors and registration for the Heritage Days Fun Run/Walk. This year’s event will benefit Portales Woman’s Club. The event will feature a simple two-mile course with various categories with awards and t-shirts sponsored by Eastern Family Dentistry for those pre-registered for the race at the Chamber or at portales.com.
The race will start at the corner of 7th & Abilene at 8:05 a.m. and end with awards announced from the main stage.
The Heritage Days Car Show gets lined up for a 9 a.m. start. Entries are $20 and include a dash plaque with a photo of the owner’s car on it. Door prizes will be given out to contestants throughout the day. Registration starts at 8 a.m. at the south end of City Park.
The big feature of Heritage Days is always the parade. It begins at 10 a.m. on the Eastern New Mexico University campus near the corner of Second Street (U.S. 70) and Avenue O. It then proceeds east on Second Street to Abilene and heads south on Abilene to City Park. Parade entries are accepted right up until parade lineup time at 9:15 a.m. All organizations, individuals and businesses are welcome to participate. There is no registration fee and no set theme. Kids can expect to gather up lots of candy as the parade passes by.
Once the excitement of the parade ends up at the park, several musical acts take center stage offering a variety of different types of music now along with professional sound and bleacher seating.
The first act of the day starts off at 11 a.m. with traditional country and western music and Gospel favorites by Sandhill Country.
At noon a Roosevelt County Showcase of musicians from the ENMU music department will offer up a special Heritage Days concert. Then the Curry County Outlaws will invade the county with old-style country and western music. The vibe switches to blues/jazz and a little rock in the afternoon with Travis Irwin and Allen Valdez on stage. In between a Portales favorite Fusion World Dance will perform.
Booths with a variety of merchandise and offers will fill the lawn of shady City Park. Food booths will offer everything from barbecue to snow cones. This year booths inside the Memorial Building will not be allowed but all your favorites including the Catholic Daughters Navajo Taco booth will still be available outside.
A new event this year is a coed 4-on-4 grass volleyball tournament organized by the Portales City Rec. Department. The action gets under way right after the parade between the pool and baseball park. Pull up a lawn chair, spectators welcome or get your team together and call Jodi Diaz at (575) 356-8598.
Heritage Days is made possible by stage sponsors J. P. Stone Community Bank, Xcel Energy and Dairy Farmers of America. The car show sponsor is C&S, Inc., while the parade is sponsored by New Mexico Bank & Trust. Other sponsors include Nixon Enterprises, Frost Mortgage, Yucca, Glen’s Garage and Roosevelt County Electric Coop.
The Chamber is accepting outdoor vendor applications up until 5 p.m. Thursday, July 15 as well as parade and car show entries at the Chamber office at 100 S. Ave A or online at portales.com. There is no admission charge at the park. For more information call (575) 356-8541.
