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By: Lyndsie Ferrell - Updated: 1 day ago

CREEDE — The famous San Luis Valley wind was the hot topic this weekend in Creede as participants and guests from all over the country ventured to the small mountain town. Though the breeze caught many visitors off guard, the weekend was still packed full of fun. 

For the last 34 years, the Taste of Creede festival has brought crowds to celebrate not only the coming summer, but the artistic talent and delicious food created by local chefs and, of course, the Memorial Day weekend. This year artists, unfortunately, had a hard time keeping their art from flying away, but several stayed strong and fought the breeze to create beautiful and unique works of art. Easels lined the north end of Main Street with crowds wandering from artist to artist to watch as their works of art came slowly to life. 

As the day wore on, the weather warmed, and the crowds gathered to listen to live music and began to gather around the tent set down by Basham Park.

The Creede Museum had its door wide open, and patrons graced the small rooms learning about the town’s rough and tumble western past.

Though the park was temporarily out of service while new grass was being put in, the younger crowd enjoyed a bouncy house and other fun activities while their parents watched the Silver Chef Cooking Competition.

Thanks to the generosity of Shamrock Foods, yet another table full of food was supplied for the cooking competition. Local chefs Kip Nagy from Kip’s Grill, Director and main chef for the Mineral County Senior Lunch Program Jonathan Ruggiero, Creede School District Chef Malcolm Snead and Arp’s Chef gathered under the big tent to pit their cooking skills against each other to win bragging rights for the rest of the year.

Shamrock Food supplied the chefs with a variety of Italian sausage that they had to use to prepare a formal lunch for the three randomly chosen judges. The lunch had to include at least two meat choices from the sausages provided and at least one selection of produce which was also provided by Shamrock Foods.

The Monte Vista Coop donates to the Taste of Creede every year and as the chefs fired up their gas grills, the crowd cheered from the sidelines. One testy gust of wind just about took the big tent right on down Main Street but besides that one moment, the afternoon cooking competition went on without a hitch.

Chef Snead won the day with his delectable meal and will have bragging rights for the rest of the year.

New Creede and Mineral County Chamber Director Julie Meiser stated that the festival was off to a great start.

“We have had a lot of fun today and besides the wind, everything is going wonderful. The crowd seems upbeat and happy to be out and about,” she said.

The weekend ended with the Artist Quick Draw competition and those that participated in the event had nothing but good things to say.

Next, for Creede is the annual Run Off Run Off event on June 4 sponsored by Headwaters Alliance, followed by the annual Donkey Dash on June 11.

For more information or a full list of events, visit www.creede.com.

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