Good times: La Familia Growers Market celebrates the South Valley through food, music

Aug. 1—As La Familia Growers Market celebrates its seventh annual season, organizers have made sure the South Valley community is at the forefront of their minds.

The previously named Gateway Growers Market, founded in 2015, was created as a way to build community within the South Valley while also providing services that the area needed. When the South Valley MainStreet nonprofit took control of the market in 2016, it renamed the market La Familia as an homage to the locally-owned grocery store, La Familia.

The growers market moved this year to the Westside Community Center, 1250 Isleta Blvd. SW, due to construction at Dolores Huerta Gateway Park, where it is usually held.

According to Bianca Encinias, La Familia Growers Market farm market manager, the group advocated for improvements at Dolores Huerta Gateway Park and helped secure funding for the project.

"It's going to be a little bit smaller this year just because we're in a totally different location, but it's been a really good experience because the Bernalillo County staff have been super helpful since we're at the community center," Encinias said.

As someone who grew up in the South Valley, Encinias felt she had a good understanding of what the community needed from the market.

"There's these stereotypes about the South Valley that we have the highest rates of crime or highest rates of violence," she said. "I remember being at a statewide conference and everyone has these negative stereotypes of the South Valley. So our first goal was to state that's not our reality. There's actually a lot of really positive things happening in the South Valley, and La Familia Growers Market is an opportunity for that."

This year, the market is hosting a variety of events to give back to the community and to show all the positive impacts the South Valley has made.

On July 26, the market hosted its annual back to school giveaway, where over 700 backpacks filled with school supplies were donated to the community.

Encinias gives much of the credit to Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada, District 2. She said when he became commissioner for the South Valley area, he immediately organized funding for the backpack giveaway, even allocating funds from the district's American Rescue Plan Act funding for the school supplies.

From educational booths from Explora to Bernalillo County clerks and assessors teaching visitors about property tax and registering people to vote, the market is focused on providing entertainment and information to the community.

Entertainment coordinator and local DJ Abe Torres, also known as DJ SMUUV, said this year, so many local performers and bands wanted to play at the growers market that he had to create a waitlist for them.

"Music is a big part of La Familia," Torres said. "Every year, we conduct a summer concert series. We like to showcase youth affiliated acts like dance groups, mariachis and bands."

As a resident of the South Valley, Torres has made a commitment to gathering South Valley talent and providing a safe and entertaining place for residents to relax.

"The South Valley is my backyard," he said. "Being a resident there and a public servant, I want to make sure that the services are high level and that the citizens of that district get their money's worth. I have a mutual interest in making the South Valley as positive of a place as I can."

Since the market's opening day, Torres said attendance has more than tripled. Vendors have also signed up in droves and Torres expects the market to get even busier toward the end of the summer season. Torres believes part of the attendance growth has come from the newly-introduced specialty music nights.

Reggae, country, cumbia music and more will all make the rotation in the weekly performances.

"Month to month and week to week it is getting busier and more popular," Torres said. "The event's popularity has grown and it will only continue to grow. Once people come down here and experience it, they understand why it's becoming so popular."