Red pozole, green, white, with pork, with chicken, with jackfruit. Think of any type of pozole and you can probably find it at Festival del Pozole in Westwood.
More than 25 different flavors from 12 local vendors will be available Saturday at the 4th annual festival. It’ll take place at El Tianguis de Westwood located on the corner of Morrison Road and Perry Street from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Hecho en Westwood and BuCuWest are hosting the event as part of Westwood's ancestral food series, which focuses on introducing traditional indigenous cuisines to the neighborhood and Denverites.
So, what’s pozole?
It’s a traditional Mexican stew made with maiz or hominy that’s nixtamalized, or steeped, for a long period of time. Various proteins such as pork and chicken go into the stew as well as chilies that provide flavor and give them that red, green or white color.
Most of the vendors are Westwood staples such as Mujeres Emprendedoras who are making red pozole with pork and two green pozoles, one with chicken and one with veggies. Cultura Chocolate will have a mixed pozole with turkey and mole. Cholo Ass Vegan will have a red pozole with jackfruit.
Besides pozole, local vendors will also be selling goods including Chamoy Me Out, Elsa Designs, Little ol Embroidery and Press Love Wildflowers.
The big change at the event this year is the location. Usually, it takes place at the RISE Westwood Campus, where Cultura, the nonprofit Re:Vision and a slew of other local organizations live.
Instead, it will be down the block at El Tianguis, a vacant parking lot that neighbors have big plans for. The lot was purchased by BuCuWest, who intends to turn it into a culturally relevant marketplace. Redevelopment is under way, but folks are already setting up shop at the site during some weekends to sell vendor goods.
The event will start with a danza mexika performance by the Hecho en Westwood Danza Mexika Program and there will be music from DJ Konz
You can pre-purchase tickets to Pozole Fest here. Individuals sample tickets are $3 and a 10-bundle pack is $25.
