It’s almost always busy in Carlsbad every weekend, but this past weekend was one of the busiest of them all.
Promoter and organizer Curtis McKinney reported tens of thousands of visitors at this year’s HawgFest, which took place at the Eddy County Sheriff’s Posse east of town. One of the most popular events was the carnival, one of the largest carnivals anyone has ever seen in this area. Musical acts, vendors and tattoo artists also helped draw the huge crowd. We received positive reports about how clean and safe the event was, and the list of musical acts that performed Friday and Saturday were extremely popular.
Meanwhile, at the civic center, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis headlined a campaign rally for gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti and Rep. Yvette Herrell on Sunday. This event also drew visitors from across the region. We were honored to have the governor of Florida visit our community. We certainly appreciated his comments about what a critical role our oil and gas industry plays to our nation.
At the Carlsbad Beach, the first annual kNOw MORE project raised $17,000 for the Cavern City Advocacy Center, Foundry Home, Rise Up Counseling and many other local programs. This project aims to create a community where there is “No More” tolerance for child abuse, assault and domestic violence. School supplies and backpacks were also provided to children who attended. DJ Jose Ornelas provided the musical entertainment on Saturday.
We also had local country band “Redsky” perform at the water park gazebo from 7-9 p.m. Saturday. Grupo Maldad will be performing this upcoming weekend. Maldad was extremely popular when they performed on Independence Day, so we expect a big crowd.
Finally, the San Jose Catholic Church also hosted its family fair over the weekend. The event includes lots of food, music, water balloon competitions, cake walks and a lot more. Musical performances by the Groove and Fuzion Nortena also drew a large crowd. There was a lot of music in Carlsbad over the weekend.
Congratulations to Father Juan Carlos Ramirez and everyone with the San Jose Church on another successful event. In fact, congratulations to the many different individuals and organizations who worked hard to create such a wide variety of activities in Carlsbad this weekend.
Sports season is now underway in Carlsbad, and that includes the annual Eddy County War. Carlsbad’s varsity football team will play in Artesia at 7 p.m. Friday at the Bulldog Bowl. Best of luck to the Cavemen.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway
