Summerfest kicked off on a blue note.
It was Sizzlin' Summerfest's Rhythm and Blues night at Civic Plaza Downtown on June 18.
Summerfest has been funded by the city for more than 20 years and is organized by city events coordinator Ron Garcia.
Summerfest boasts not only a line of local and national musical acts, but also magicians, African-themed jewelry booths, voter registration, free children's games, temporary tattoos and a variety of food, including standard festival fare-like cotton candy, funn-el cakes, lemonade, pretzels and, of course, iced lattes.
There is also a beer garden - ---------a designated area for the consumption of alcohol.
"It's an area where we control liquor," Garcia said. "We do provide alcohol as a service here at Summerfest, but it is corralled. We control it very closely."
City resident Ruth Schwed has been coming to Summerfest since it started more than 20 years ago. She said Summerfest used to have different ethnic groups performing, as well as a large assortment of ethnic foods, but last year it became more standardized.
"Now they're all the same and have the same food," said Schwed. "I don't know why they did it this way, but we still enjoy coming."
Garcia responded to this, saying there were too many ethnic groups for the limited number of nights, so they began to theme Summerfest by its music. He said there are still American Indian and Latin nights because those are the most popular.
"We can't exclude anyone - it's not what Albuquerque is about," he said. "We are still trying to provide as much culture as we possibly can. The food still has an international flavor."
Garcia estimated that 5,000 people showed up. He said that for Latin night, between 15,000 and 20,000 people are expected to come.
Local singer Kathryn McGill was one of the performers. She covered songs by Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, as well as her original music. She interacted with the audience, telling the single men on the plaza she was looking for a husband and sharing stories of relationships gone awry.
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"Sometimes it's like you're so far away and disconnected from the people," McGill said. "So you want to bring them in, because without the audience, it is just rehearsal."
She used to attend Summerfest as a spectator.
"I used to come every Saturday night," she said. "Ten years ago it was about the only thing to do in Albuquerque on a Saturday night."
She said Albuquerque is a great city poised on the edge of change.
"It really needs a change to create a destination point," she said. "With entertainment, like you have in Austin or the French Quarter in New Orleans - we're going to have something real like that."
Garcia said this year's Summerfest is helping the city gear up for the tricentennial next year.
"I just love this town, and I'm seeing it grow," he said. "Albuquerque is on the map now. We really do have an understanding that we are a community, and we come together as a community."
Summerfest runs every Saturday until July 30. Next Saturday will be Native Rhythm night, followed by Country Night, International Night and Oldies Night.
