The 45th annual Peanut Valley Festival begins Oct. 20-21 at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds in Portales and will feature live entertainment throughout the event.

One of the highlights of recent years has been Clovis’ La Casita Elementary School Baile Folklorico. The students perform traditional Mexican dances while dressed in authentic costume. Several different groups perform and costume changes keep the kids moving. The group will be on the slab just outside the main Events Arena at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

New to the PVF state this year is a group called Tucumcari Crossroads. They will close the festival Saturday with a 4 p.m. start.

Based in Tucumcari, the group plays their version of traditional Bluegrass favorites featuring tight harmony. The band members also tip their hats to Country Music and a little bit of Gospel. The group just finished gigs at Red River’s Southwest Pickers and the Weed Bluegrass Festival.

Local singer/songwriter Colton Stevens will also take the PVF stage for the first time this year. He’s played numerous coffee shops and pubs as well as various festivals in the region. He’ll be joined on stage by Stan Livengood of Portales.

Andy Mason, who cut his teeth playing music in the Portales area will return on Sunday at PVF to get the afternoon started at 12:30 p.m. Mason, who lives in Santa Fe, has several children’s albums to his credit and tours extensively with his children’s music concerts. He’ll mix things up

with a variety of folk covers as well as originals. Maybe he can even be coaxed into playing “Streets of Portales” or “Kakawate Road.”

Other returning favorites at Peanut Festival include the Blackwater Band closing things out on Sunday afternoon and Michael Thompson at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Other dance and demo groups performing will include ArchAngels K-9s with a demonstration on how service dogs are trained, Medieval Village knights and fighters from the Blackwater Keep of the area’s Society for Creative Anachronism, Fusion World Dance, Dance Studio Extreme and Portales Cheer & Tumbling.

Sponsors of this year’s event are Hampton Farms, Yucca, EDF Renewable Energy, U.S. Bank, Walmart, New Mexico Bank & Trust, Wheeler Mortuary, Xcel Energy, Hunton Insurance Agency, White Rock Crushing, LLC and the New Mexico Peanut Growers Association.

Admission is free (except gun show) and parking is also available on the west side off Boston Ave. as well as the south side of the fairgrounds off Lime Street. Handicap parking, with placard is available inside the grounds, both west of the midway buildings and north of the Pavilion. The entertainment stage moves inside the Events Arena if weather is bad. For more information contact the Chamber at (575) 356-8541.