KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City's first-ever tamale festival is set to take place Sunday, June 26.
The Mattie Rhodes Center is spearheading the 2022 Tamale Fest while also raising awareness of its new cultural center on the west side of the city.
“The west side is a really historical neighborhood for generations. Mexican-American families have been living here sharing these recipes and passing them down through generations,” said Angela Brunner with Mattie Rhodes. “So it's a great place to kind of celebrate that again.”
A Tamale Royal Rumble Tasting Competition will be the festival’s highlight with vendors and families battling it out for the first-place prize of $500.
“It's truly a cultural event to make tamales, to eat tamales, so what better way to celebrate our new cultural center than to bring the community together around a staple that brings families together,” Brunner said.
The festival starts at 2 p.m. and will take place outside the new Mattie Rhodes Cultural Center off Jarboe Street near Southwest Boulevard.
Best of all, the event is free and family-friendly with the competition starting around 4:00 p.m.
