A 108-year-old tradition
Since 1909, the village of Wagon Mound has been celebrating its agricultural heritage and the crop that was once the pride of the local farming community: the pinto bean.
Nowadays, few beans are grown in the area, but the village of Wagon Mound honors its past every Labor Day weekend with the Bean Day festival.
Bean Day got its start when Higinio Gonzales and others cooked a pot of beans behind the local schoolhouse. Gonzales called the event the “Mora County Farmers Jubilee.”
By the next year, the name Bean Day was adopted, and ever since, Wagon Mound has hosted an annual Bean Day celebration honoring the pinto bean.
This year, Wagon Mound will host its 108th annual Bean Day, starting at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31, with events scheduled through Monday, Sept. 3.
“On Friday night, we start with the cleaning of the beans at the firehouse,” said Luis Lopez, one of the organizers of Bean Day. “Then we have a street dance.”
Events continue throughout the weekend, with rodeos, dances, a car show, mud bog racing, a parade, and a free barbecue.
The parade is set for 9:30 a.m., Monday, Sept. 3, with the barbecue to begin at noon. This year’s parade theme is “Bean Day Goes Hollywood.”
The four-day event offers plenty of fun for families, and people of all ages. Most of the events are free, with a few exceptions.
“The cost for the dance on Saturday night is $15 per person,” Lopez said. “Sunday is $10. For the rodeo, it’s $10 per person each day. And for the mud bogs, it’s $10 a person to join in.”
For a full list of events and times, visit the Bean Day website, beanday100.com, or search for the
Wagon Mound Bean Day page on Facebook.
