25th annual World’s Largest Matanza this Saturday

BELEN — Watch for the big pig balloon this Saturday to find your way to the World’s Largest Matanza.

This weekend marks the 25th annual Hispano Chamber of Valencia County Matanza, celebrating the food, traditions and culture of the community.

Born and raised in Los Lunas, Jerry Smith, a member of the Rio Grande Matanzeros team, said the annual Matanza gives he and all the members of the team an opportunity to give back to the community as well as carry on an important part of our heritage.

“This is a New Mexico tradition; it’s our tradition,” said Smith. “We start planning at least six months in advance, and we’re proud to serve the first plate of food and proud to serve the last plate of food. You can come and eat until you burst.”

The Matanza, featuring a dozen teams cooking for the day, will be held from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 25, at Belen Eagle Park. Entry for the Matanza is $20 per person at the gate, with those 10 and younger able to get in for free.

Much of the proceeds from the event are to raise scholarship funds for higher education to students who are continuing their college education or are graduating from a Valencia County high school in May 2025. Close to $300,000 has been awarded since the inception of the event.

The Valencia Flying and Retrieval Society will be out with a pig-shaped hot air balloon on static display, as well as several radio control balloons flying starting at 10 a.m.

Music for the day will be provided by Peter Vigil and the All Star Band, starting at 10:30 a.m., and Black Pearl Band at 12 p.m. Belen DJ Wayne Gallegos will be providing tunes before, between and after the bands.

The beer garden will be hosted by 377 Brewery for the third year, with the brewery selling custom cans of beer emblazoned with this year’s logo — a pig in astronaut garb, prepared to head to space.

Bob Lucero, the president of the Hispano Chamber of Valencia County, said attendees will be able to reenter the grounds with a paid wristband if they need to leave.

Free shuttles will be running from Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church at 10th and Church streets for the park and ride starting at 6:45 a.m. The last shuttle will leave the grounds at 2:45 p.m. and the park will close at 3 p.m. to allow time for the Herculean task of cleaning up and packing everything out.

The event will draw on the labor of about 1,200 volunteers that day, including local ROTC and Upward Bound students, the Pueblo of Isleta and the Valencia County Retired Seniors Volunteer Program.

“The volunteers are a big help,” said Smith. “They run our grease buckets, bring supplies and, for teams who only have 20 members instead of 40 like us, they are a big help.”

Lucero said the chamber’s goal is to “inject youth” into both the Matanza and the chamber itself by working to recruit younger members to carry on the tradition.

“The teams are always enthusiastic, but every year it gets harder and harder,” Lucero said.

To ease new teams into the hectic and laborious process of cooking for thousands, Lucero said they’ve asked some of the more seasoned teams, like the Rio Grande Matanzeros, to help the rookie teams.

Smith said he and other experienced Matanza teams are more than happy to help in any way they can to support the event and the community.

“We love being able to share our food,” he said. “Anything we can do to help, we’ll do.”

Even though attendance numbers can reach 10,000 or more, Lucero said the Matanza is more like a family gathering, with members returning year after year.

“I’m blessed to get to watch this happen. We have so much support,” he said. “This is what Valencia County is known for — family. We help each other out. We’re an all volunteer board and we might have our disagreements but we always stand together.”