The Best PalmFest

This year’s annual PalmFest marked the 100th anniversary of the McAllen city charter, and First Choice Power was on hand to sponsor the celebration. First Choice Power’s own Andrhea Rivera, who you probably know as a representative from our Mission Office, was on hand to help. “Palm fest was very successful,” Andrhea said. “There were around 30,000 people, and the event was so much fun!”

PalmFest 2011 kicked off on the evening of September 29 at the McAllen Convention Center with the Valley Symphony Orchestra’s "Concert of the Century." The opening event included a pre-concert reception, dinner and concert. Over the next two days, the free-to-the-public festival offered non-stop music, entertaining shows, cooking competitions, kids’ activities, interactive booths and great food that all celebrate McAllen’s diverse cultures and rich history.

Local pitmasters did some amazing cooking for the 2011 Fajita Cookoff Contest—always a popular part of the festival. This year’s contest included a new category—mollejas—on Saturday. Sunday was dedicated to the true fajita. Competitors could enter the true or gourmet categories, depending on their cooking style. As usual, winners received a $3,800 prize as well as the coveted hand-made miniature BBQ pit trophies made by Camco Wheel & Axel.

Our local office manager Alma Salinas also had a great time. “We were blessed with lots of rain on Saturday, but Sunday was a very beautiful day,” said Alma. “Visitors welcomed First Choice Power, and we had a giant Garfield that people posed with for pictures. We also sold some of the orange bracelets to raise money for the local food pantry through our Food First™ program.”

For information on next year’s event, visit http://www.palmfest.com/.