All good things must come to an end, and such is the case for the annual Margarita & Salsa Festival in Waco, Texas.

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Sadly, the 24 year tradition has ended.

Margarita & Salsa Festival

Shortly before moving to Central Texas in the summer of 2017, I took to Google to see what kinds of events were happening in and around Waco. I saw the Margarita & Salsa Festival was an annual event, and I knew my wife would be excited because margaritas and salsa are two of her favorite things.

The fact that they had margaritas and salsa was great, but add some live music from top name artists and I knew we'd be back year after year.

Pandemic

The end of the festival happened all too suddenly and almost without notice. The COVID-19 pandemic hit and forced its cancelation in both 2020 and 2021. We always thought that it'd be back after the pandemic but unfortunately it's not.

The Waco Tribune-Herald reports that the Margarita & Salsa Festival that had taken place every year since 1996 has ended after 24 years. Wes Allison, CEO and President of the Extraco Events Center, confirms the festival won't be back, saying:

It is over. The last one was in 2019 and it hadn’t made money for some time. There was too much risk and not enough reward. It had a nice run

It was fun while it lasted.

Margarita & Salsa

Here's a fun fact you may not be aware of: a Texas Country favorite helped get the Margarita & Salsa Festival started in 1996. In fact, the festival started as a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation. Pat Green's mother, Patsy Burgess, suffered from arthritis and the festival was a way to raise some money to help support the foundation.

Live music with a margarita and salsa competition got the local restaurants involved and it all just grew from there. The festival would transition to a scholarship fundraiser following the departure of both Green and the Arthritis Foundation in 2012.

As I stated at the top, all good things must come to an end. It is with a heavy heart that I say adios to the Margarita & Salsa Festival. I'm just glad I was able to make it out there a couple of times.

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