around the valley: desert daze brew fest looks to perk up locals, showcase talent

written by roman t. flores, freelance journalist
edited by sarina e. guerra
formatted by justin orsino

In the grand landscape of the Imperial Valley, sad to say, businesses, events and ideas come and go. Some prosper for a bit then run out of gas (a fitting metaphor for the times, right?), some have success and then lack the continued support to keep thriving, and some have trouble even getting off of the ground.

One thing I hope to do as a writer is help local businesses – or in some cases, events and creative ideas – not just start a buzz and then fade away, but hit the ground running and skyrocket towards success.

Because of this I’ve been working on a few stories for upcoming local events, businesses and even new training models/methods that are attempting to take off and make their positive marks on the Imperial Valley and beyond in new, interesting and (if all goes right) long-lasting ways.

So, let’s start with one of the newest, the rapidly approaching…

Desert Daze
Brew Fest

What is it?

Desert Daze Brew Fest is a free public event which hopes to bring vendors together – brewers of coffee and beer, and makers of much more – along with musical acts as a way to create the Imperial Valley’s first, authentic festival; created by its own kind, for its own kind.

Desert Daze Brew Fest is the brainchild of event founder and El Centro resident, Ricardo Rivera, who wants to hold more events like this in the future to display local talent. After a conversation with a friend planted the seeds just a few months ago, Desert Daze is now about to blossom for the first time this spring, firmly planting its roots at Bucklin Park this coming Saturday, April 4th for its inaugural run.

An eclectic mix of vendors, food, musical acts and games aim to be fun for the whole family while hopefully not being too hard on the wallet, said Rivera, who also goes by “Rico”. I sat down with Rico and social media manager Ira Hamilton of Imperial Valley Auto (the event’s main sponsor in year one) to chat about the upcoming Desert Daze and see what they have brewing.

How did it start?

“Personally, I’ve always wanted to have my own business, but the start of it was actually after a conversation I had with my friend, Guillermo Salgado, owner of The Coffee Bean Factory. He gave me the idea and some of the contacts,” Rico said.

As Rico took the ball and began to run with it, he began looking for local sponsors and scored with Imperial Valley Auto.

“Rico came and talked to us about gaining sponsors, so we agreed,” Ira said,” and since then we’ve been working together to get this going.”

Ira may have a bit of a familiar face because she has been a local bartender and server throughout her years in the Valley.

“We (at IV Auto) were talking about what events we could get involved with in the community. Since we’re under new management we wanted to have a fresh start, so when Rico came it was good timing,” she said.

The heart behind it

“I’ve always held onto the fact that the Imperial Valley is very creative – there’s a lot of talent out here – so I took it upon myself to create a festival where coffee and beer is present but we also have a stage for artists to showcase their own talents here locally,” Rico said.

“When people think of starting something they automatically think of trying to go to bigger cities to try to get that going, but 8 times out of 10 they end up coming back because it doesn’t work,” the event founder said, “so I figured it’d be good to have something here that is legitimate. Something that genuinely has interest in our communities, believes in (the artists) and their talents, that can become its own venue, performance vibe, and energy. Something to help give the Valley an identity that it doesn’t yet have.”

Rico said his belief in the power of local talent came from his experience helping put on a past event. He said an album release party for a local musical artist known as “Devault” turned into a two-day concert at the now defunct Twilight smoke shop, which used to be located in downtown El Centro. That two-day concert (held April 25-26, 2019) showcased 17 local artists, and turned out to be one of local star JayRoxxx’s bigger hometown concerts at a time when she was just starting out, he said.

“That show brought out the creativity and all those musicians who were looking for a way to showcase their music, and that’s what gave me the confidence that this Valley had a lot of great talent that is ready to be seen,” he said. “It’s like that shy, quiet kid everybody knew in school that always knew how to dance or sing, but no one knew (they could) until they spoke up.”

“In the bars we were always promoting local talent,” Ira said about her previous experience, “so I’m used to having these kinds of events. It’s nice to see people have a chance to do their thing.”

“I want to see the Valley come out of its shell,” Rico said. “I want to see people come out and embrace that we’re not as small as we think. We’re a pretty solid community.

“We’re a lot more accepting and a lot more family-oriented than bigger cities…so having something big here hopefully brings more out of the community and shows our true colors,” he said. “That way everybody can stand up and say…

‘This is what
we are and
what we do,’

Who & what is going to be there?

What will it become in the future?

“Right now there’s not too many options for this first one but the idea is to get it out there and inspire everyone to come to see that coffee, beer and different types of music can coincide in one festival,” Rico said.

“And that you don’t have to drink (alcohol) to have fun either,” Ira added. “That’s why we have other options.”

“I had people tell me I was crazy to be planning barely since January 15th, but somebody’s gotta do it,” Rico chuckled. “Somebody’s gotta make something fun. After this I’ll be planning other festivals,” he said.

“In a world where we’re all put against each other I think some things we can all agree on are coffee, beer and good music,” Ira said. “And fun,” Rico added.

“We’re just going to shoot (the event) up to the sky and see where it lands. …I just want to say thank you to everybody,” he said.

The first-ever, free entry to the public Desert Daze Brew Fest will be held on Saturday, April 4th from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Bucklin Park. Bucklin Park is located at 1350 S. 8th Street, El Centro, California.