An array of taco trucks, food and drink stands, music, and games decorated the Bakersfield College soccer field on May 4 to give way to the first-ever Tacos, Margaritas, & Beer Festival.
According to Quin Miller, owner of Q-Event Management and the coordinator of the event, the concept of the festival was born after noticing the abundance of taco trucks and stands in town, and observing similar events in the community.
“We had seen some events around, like taco competitions, but Bakersfield never had its own festival,” Miller said.
“After a while we put some of the things that we like the most: I love margaritas, I love tacos, and I love beer, and they go together pretty well, so I figured why not put that with some good music, some good companies, and have a good time?”
Miller said that when the BC soccer field was brought to his attention as a possibility to host his festival, he immediately knew it was the ideal location.
“I said, ‘why not BC?’ It’s a good location, and it’s greatly kept up,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is for people to come here and have fun and kind of let loose a little bit, and just enjoy the day, and enjoy the weather. This is a nice, open field, so it’s perfect for that.”
Giljay Juarez, owner of Face Clothing and sponsor of the Tacos, Margaritas, & Beer Festival, agreed with Miller. “BC is a really, really good location, and it’s innovating,” he said. “Besides, everybody knows Bakersfield College, so it’s easy to get here.”
Juarez, who was in charge of marketing and advertising of the festival, said that they were expecting approximately 3,000 attendees. “I’m excited to see the people come, the 3,000,” he said. “There’s a mechanical bull, live music, food – it’s awesome, I’m excited about it all.”
Among the many vendors present at the event was the League of Dreams, a local non-profit organization that helps children with disabilities play sports.
“Part of the proceeds from today’s event goes back to our organization to make it to where it’s free to the families for the children to play,” said Christina Heard, one of the League of Dreams representatives tending the booth.
“We are striving for awareness today,” she said. “We want the public to know about the program, especially with maybe a lot of out of town people who don’t know about what we have here in Bakersfield, so we want to spread the word.”
Juarez explained that one of the main purposes of the festival is to bring people together. “It’s a very important event, and the reason why is because you have to get everyone together,” said Juarez.
“With the Hispanic community, this is what we love, we love to get together and eat and celebrate, and I think this is a very good thing that Quin is doing for the first annual Tacos, Margaritas, & Beer Festival.”