Membrillo Fest & Hispanic Heritage

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with lectures and demonstrations by authors, artists and craftsmen. This will include our annual presentation about quince fruit–membrillo–and quince preserves!

This year’s Membrillo Fest again celebrates the venerable quince fruit and the abundant harvest from our quince trees at Mission Garden. Cook it, bake it, make preserves–it’s a versatile fruit!
At this year’s event we’re also celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs September 15 to October 15. Our annual demonstration of how to make cajeta de membrillo, the traditional form of quince preserves in the Hispanic world, will be integrated with other presentations about Hispanic heritage.
Here is the schedule of events on October 15:
8:30 – 9:00am Ignacio Garcia (artist, muralist) talks about his unique work.
9:00 – 9:45am Mesquite artisans Zach Farley and Elias Samorano are introduced by Gary Paul Nabhan and they talk about mesquite and demonstrate how they use mesquite to make unique crafts.
9:45am Gary Nabhan signs books, including one of his latest: Mesquite: An Arboreal Love Affair.
9:45 – 10:30am Author Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford reads from her children’s books, like My Nana’s Remedies and My Tata’s Remedies.
10:30am Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford makes remedios (medicinal herb remedy bouquets).
10:30 – noon Jesús García speaks about traditional quince agriculture and then introduces Mission Garden madrina del jardin Josefina Lizarraga, who does a demonstration of how to make cajeta de membrillo, the traditional quince preserves of the Hispanic world.
Throughout the event or as long as they last:
–Quince empanadas on sale from La Estrella
–Mesquite flour on sale
–Sale price on Membrillo Fest T-shirts! ($20)
Running concurrently on October 15 will be our monthly Traditional O’odham Agriculture event.