City of Moriarty Calls for Vendors Ahead of September Pinto Bean Fiesta Weekend

MORIARTY, N.M. — Decades before the interstates cut across Torrance County, railcars laden with dryland pinto beans rattled out of the Estancia Valley to feed armies abroad and dinner tables across the country. That storied harvest legacy takes center stage later this month as the City of Moriarty hosts its annual Pinto Bean Fiesta on Friday, Sept. 25, (ballon glow) and Saturday, Sept. 26.

Organizers are calling on regional artisans, food truck operators, and commercial merchants to secure booth space for what remains one of the East Mountains’ largest and longest-running community gatherings.

The two-day celebration opens Friday evening with an illuminated hot air balloon glow against the backdrop of the Sandia Mountains at Sierra Blanca Brewing Company. Festivities resume in full force Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with the annual parade rolling down Route 66 and Broadway, leading crowds directly into Moriarty City Park at 201 Broadway St. South.

Once the parade wraps, the park transforms into an open-air marketplace featuring games, live music, community displays, and local food. The celebration runs through dusk, culminating in an outdoor community dance at dark.

For regional merchants and makers, the fiesta provides direct foot traffic from across Torrance, Santa Fe, and Bernalillo counties. Vendor applications are open now and can be picked up in person at Moriarty City Hall. Prospective vendors with questions regarding booth fees, power access, setup schedules, or space availability should contact organizer Roddy Gallegos directly at 575-781-7392.

The event traces its lineage back to the homesteading boom of the early 20th century. Following the completion of the New Mexico Central Railroad in 1903, homesteaders discovered that the valley’s calcium-rich soil, warm summer days, and cool nights created premier conditions for hardy, drought-tolerant pinto beans. By the onset of the World Wars, local growers had organized extensive processing cooperatives, cementing Moriarty’s national reputation as the “Pinto Bean Capital of the World.”

Even after devastating multi-year droughts in the 1950s prompted many area growers to pivot toward irrigated alfalfa, corn, and cattle ranching, multi-generational farming families maintained the harvest. Today, the fiesta bridges that proud agricultural heritage with modern small-town commerce, drawing valley families together for a weekend of celebration.