May 31, 2018 500 AM
MARFA – Agave Festival Mar-fa returns with a full line-up of events Thursday, June 6th and continuing into the evening of Sunday, June 10th.
Agave Festival Marfa is an annual festival celebrating the agave and its influence on culture through food, film, music and scientific programs. The Festival treats the agave as the indicator species for a region that is binational, multilingual, and deeply informed by indigenous history. It proposes to bring communities together through outstanding free and affordable programs including talks by historians, botanists, artists, anthropologists and archaeologists.
Additionally, the Festival partners these cultural and scientific programs with spirit tastings and culinary events. Films, exhibitions, and concerts by leading artists in regional music of various genres are offered to everyone to ensure a lively five day event.
In its first year, Agave Festival Marfa presented of four days of programs including presentations by several archaeologists, botanists, and historians, including Carolyn Boyd and Steven Black; a film by Meredith Dreiss and David O. Brown; meals at several local restaurants prepared by local chefs; and hosted a musical performance by pioneers of norteño music, Polo Urias Y Su Maquina Norteña.
This year, Agave Festival Mar-fa has expanded the program to include guest chefs Stephan Pyles, winner of a James Beard Award, Gerardo Vasquez Lugo, and Sara North; world-renowned bat conservationist, Rodrigo Medellin; MacArthur Genius Award winner and father of the sustainable food movement, Gary Paul Nabhan; archaeologist Andy Cloud, director of the Center for Big Bend Studies; two of the world’s leading agave botanists, Wendy Hodgson and Andrew Salywon; upcoming country musicians Jesse Ebaugh and Tender Things; and pioneer of Chicano Soul and Tejano Music, Sunny Ozuna, to name just a few.
Additionally, many leading brands of the agave spirit industry will present free tastings of sotol, tequila and mezcal at local venues, including the Crowley Theater, Wrong Store, and Ranch Candy.
One-of-a-kind dining experiences will be hosted at several local restaurants, with meals at Al Campo, Bar Nadar, The Capri, Convenience West, Do Your Thing, Jett’s, LaVenture, Marfa Burrito, Stellina, and Water Stop. Area cultural institutions Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, Chinati Foundation and Judd Foundation will all host events on their properties and there will be a fundraiser for Shumla Archaeological Center at the Brite Building in downtown Marfa hosted by El Cosmico and Desert Door Texas Sotol.
Agave Festival Marfa was founded by Tim Johnson, owner of the Marfa Book Co., in 2017 with support from anthropologists and filmmakers Meredith Dreiss and David O. Brown, whose film, “Agave is Life”, was the Festival’s inspiration; and the Hotel Saint George.
The Festival’s media sponsors are the Big Bend Sentinel, Mar-fa Public Radio and The Texas Observer.
For more information, check the full schedule of events at www.agavemarfa.com.
