Mercedes Planning The Return Of Community Celebrations
The Texas Street Festival along with a number of other community events are making a comeback in Mercedes in the coming months.
The popular street festival – which draws over 15,000 enthusiasts yearly – was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. It will make its return this Labor Day weekend, on Saturday, Sept. 4, in Mercedes’ historic downtown. It’s an event hosted by the Mercedes Area Chamber of Commerce, the Development Corporation of Mercedes, and the city of Mercedes.
“All of us at the city are excited to bring back events to the community,’’ said Fred Gonzalez, the president of the Mercedes Chamber. “We feel like it’s safe enough at this point with the vaccination rates going up. We’ve been getting lots of calls and e-mails into our office asking about the events (coming back).’’
The street festival is a huge event that in past years has run from 12 noon until 12 midnight and features live music along with great food and beverages, street vendors, and free rides for children. There is no admission charge for this unique Labor Day weekend celebration in the Rio Grande Valley.
“The excitement is there,’’ Gonzalez said of bringing back the street festival and other community events.
Before the festival in September, Movies In The Park will return on July 14 at the Mercedes Civic Center Amphitheater at 7:30 p.m., with a $1 concession stand. The movies will be an-every-Wednesday event for the remainder of July, with the event playing at the amphitheater at the same times on July 21 and July 28.
Another July event will come on the 17th with the first Queen City Market Days Celebration in downtown Mercedes. The city and the chamber are teaming up with TRW Hat Company of Mercedes to put on the market days. It’s a free event and applications are currently being accepted as the city encourages everyone to shop local.
Another Mercedes classic set to make a return is Little Nashville, a monthly event held the last Thursday of every month. It features live music from area bands along with a number of vendors. It’s also a downtown Mercedes event. Gonzalez said an exact date for the return of Little Nashville hasn’t been set yet, but hopefully sometime in the fall country music will again be wafting through downtown Mercedes.
When it does, later this year, it will complete the return of community celebrations after a year’s hiatus as Mercedes is again ready and able to commemorate the uniqueness of the Queen City of the Valley.
- Ricardo D. Cavazos
