Contest Winners of the 8th Annual Tamale Festival!

Each year, the festival hosts a “Best Tamale” Contest, a Tamale Eating Contest and a Chihuahua & Pet Costume Contest! Following are the results:

BEST TAMALE CONTEST

Best Overall Tamale - Award Winning Tamales

Traditional Tamale Winners:

• 1st Place - Award Winning Tamales
• 2nd Place - Super Tamales
• 3rd Place - La Luz del Mundo, Paso Robles

Gourmet Tamale Winners:

• 1st Place - La Luz del Mundo, Visalia
• 2nd Place - La Luz del Mundo, Oxnard
• 3rd Place – Beth’s Tamales

TAMALE EATING CONTEST

Winners (12 & over):

• 1st Place – AJ Fragoso
• 2nd Place – Justin Turner

Winners (11 & under):

• 1st Place – Roman Leon
• 2nd Place – Gabby Castaneda

CHIHUAHUA & PET COSTUME CONTEST!

• 1st Place - Best Overall: Phoebe, Owner Vikky Mullin
• 2nd Place - Best Costume: Maude, Owner, Ryan Duclos
• 3rd Place - Best Lookalike: Pepper & Owner, Liam Shutt
• Honorable Mention - Gidget, Owner Carla Garcia

The City of Atascadero sends out a sincere thank you to this year’s sponsors:

Gold Sponsors: Avila Traffic Safety, & Kirk Consulting; Silver sponsors: A.M. Sun Solar, Springhill Suites by Marriott, Waste Management; Bronze Sponsors: 5 Star Rain Gutters, Planet Fitness Atascadero and T-Mobile. 

Special thanks to Medina Light Show Designs - Manuel Medina; Emcee Francisco Ramirez; the Famous Dancing Horses; Manuel Enrique Ranchero Artist & his Horse; Mariachi Voces Tapatias, La Marcha Sound, Steppin Out Band, Brass Mash Band, Dante Marsh & The Vibe Setters, Mexicanisimo Mariachi Band; Paso A Pasito Dance Group; Paso Ballet Folklorico; The 90’s Babiez Ultimate Party Band; Sound Techs David Chock & Manuel Medina; Friends of the Charles Paddock Zoo; Pyro Spectacular for the Firework show; all of the tamale tasting judges, pet judges and our amazing team of volunteers, vendors who traveled here from all over California and to all of our local breweries, wineries, and cideries who participated!

Thank you to everyone for making our 8th Annual Tamale Festival a success!