Get ready to cha cha

Posted

By Jacque Aragon
Patty Aragon Green Chile Classic

The 15th annual Mountain Chile Cha Cha will be held Saturday, Sept. 25, in Town Park in downtown Pagosa Springs.

This no-admission, all-day fall celebration features a free concert, a green chile cook-off and tasting, a morning trail race, a margarita contest and a Mexican beer garden. 

Much in the same way that Easterners equate the smell of pressed apples with the coming of fall, southwesterners know it is autumn by the smell of roasting green chiles, usually the Hatch variety from New Mexico, but sometimes big Jims, which are commonly grown around Grand Junction.

The 13th annual Patty Aragon Green Chile Classic cook-off and tasting will start at 12:30 p.m. and will give spectators an opportunity to sample dozens of varieties of green chile from some of the area’s finest amateur and professional cooks. Up for grabs will be $600 in prize money, awards and medals. Register at: lovegreenchile.com.

There will also be a commercial margarita contest and tasting, food trucks and cold Mexican beer in the cantina. Hatch green chile will be roasting on-site and for sale by the bag or the bushel. 

Sangre Joven, a Latin-influenced band, is returning this year and will be live on stage at 1:30 p.m. and will go until approximately 5:30 p.m., with a short break in between sets to announce the cook-off and margarita winners.

The Mountain Chile Cha Cha is a rain-or-shine event. For more information or to sign up, visit ilovegreenchile.com.