City of Somerton held the 16th Annual Tamale Fest, with Rep. Ruben Gallego as a guest judge

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - People across Yuma County attended the Tamale Fest, which was in its 16th year.

One Arizona politician made a special appearance at the festival as Representative Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) served as a guest judge. However, this isn't Gallego's first trip to Somerton.

"We've been traveling down here for the last couple of months...couple of times. I think we're here now [for the] fourth time in less than two months. It's always great to come down here. I feel like I have a lot of friends and family down here. There is a lot of things going on here that we want to make sure people know who we are what we're doing for this community."

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.)

Having grown up in Chihuahua, Mexico, Gallego visiting the City of Somerton made him feel right at home.

"The kind of culture you see here is the culture I grew up in, so it feels very familiar to me," Gallego said.

When asked what it was like to judge tamales during his campaign, Gallego said this, "Actually, to be honest, it's kind of cool. I mean, if this is what you have to do on a campaign: Go out. Meet good people. Have some tamales. Drink a beer with local elected officials, nonprofits. If that's what I get to do for the next 330 days, that's a great campaign, and we should enjoy that."

While this is was Gallego's first time judging tamales, this was also a first for John Ochoa, a field representative for Thump Records, vending at the festival.

"I pretty much have been doing Tamale Festivals every Christmas, and this is the first time in Arizona. I usually do the one in Indio, California, or Oxnard...Those are really big Tamale Festivals out there, and I heard this one is big," Ochoa spoke.

One person attending the festival, Sean Toomey, shared his experience saying, "It's been great. I mean, it's a great community event, and I think it's good for the smaller community of Somerton to kind of get the awareness of what they do here in this town."

Toomey said he's been attending the festival for the past eight-to-nine years. He shared how his previous experiences has changed since then.

"You can definitely see that the crowd's bigger this year than in years past. It's still early on, but I'm sure it's gonna keep growing and growing as the day goes on," Toomey explained.

Toomey shared what tamales he bought at the festival saying, "I got beef...pork on these ones, and before I had, from one of the other vendors, a white corn, which white corn is very good."

For those who have yet to attend tamale festivals like the one in Somerton, Toomey had this to share:

"You definitely have to come down here. The band's good. The people's good. The crowd's good, and definitely, the tamales are the best."

When asked if they would be willing to come back to the Tamale Fest to judge, vend, and attend, Gallego, Ochoa, and Toomey unanimously said yes.