Tigard's final city-produced El Tigre Fest filled Cook Family Park on Saturday, Oct. 3. More than 70 vendor booths, live music and a youth soccer tournament marked the end of the city's run as event producer.
The free festival celebrates Latino/Hispanic and Filipino American cultures during Hispanic Heritage Month and Filipino American History Month. Performers included Pacific Northwest acts Barrio Mestizo, Gata Galáctica, Pura Vida Orquesta, Mariachi Viva México and Dina y Los Rumberos, according to Your Oregon News.
Club Venados USA, a Tigard-based youth fútbol club, held tournament play for the second straight year. Players ages 7–15 competed starting Friday, Oct. 2, and continuing through Saturday.
The city's post-event recap thanked volunteers, vendors and performers. It listed a Kids' Zone with lawn games, fairy hair, balloon twisting, costumed characters and face painting.
Tigard Safe Routes to School offered free bicycle helmets. The Tigard Public Library provided free books for children, and PDX BeyBlade hosted spinning-top activities.
Community partners ranged from the Tigard Police Department and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue to the Tigard-Tualatin School District, Tigard Chamber of Commerce and the Latino Network. Food vendors included Pupuseria La Bendicion, Pollos Aguilar, Mi Pisco and Tililis Ice Cream, among others.
Local officials and honored guests spoke at the event, though the city did not identify them by name in its recap.
Leandro Barrientos, Tigard's digital communications coordinator who coordinates El Tigre Fest, described the festival's growth in a Sept. 29 preview. "One of the things I'm most proud of is that El Tigre hasn't just grown in size; it's grown in relationships," Barrientos said.
The festival began in 2022 as a spinoff from a smaller Latino festival that had been part of the city's annual Street Fair. Tigard's 2027 budget eliminates city-produced special events to help close a $6 million general fund gap, as Tigard Life reported Sept. 11. El Tigre Fest costs rose from $79,000 to more than $107,000 between 2024 and 2025, while attendance fell from about 5,000 to roughly 2,500.
The Pride Parade & Festival, Juneteenth Freedom Celebration and Fourth of July Celebration also end as city-produced events under the same budget decision.
Nicole Hendrix, assistant to the city manager, said at a May 2026 budget meeting that the city would like to see community partners continue the festivals. No outside promoter has been publicly named to take over El Tigre Fest for 2027.
