By Patricia Duran
Every Labor Day Weekend, the annual Gate City Music Festival (GCMF) attracts between 1,500 to 2,000 out-of-town visitors to Raton and is one of the largest signature events hosted by Raton MainStreet.
A lot of work goes into planning and carrying out the festival, including help from dozens of volunteers, large sponsorships like Pepsi and the City of Raton, and partnerships with local businesses. Brenda Ferri, Executive Director of Raton MainStreet, says it is a time to come together, celebrate the city, and give back to the people living here.
The locals come together to host GCMF because they treasure Raton and envision a flourishing community filled with entertainment for everyone. Whether it be motels donating rooms, or locals donating their time to set up the large tents or run the Kid Zone on Historic First Street, it really takes an entire city to execute this memorable event and get it off the ground.
This two-day happening is jam packed with top musical talent, street dancing, vendors, food and drinks, and so much more. Repeat visitors and unique entertainment come from all over to Raton to enjoy and bask in the mountain air and perfect northern New Mexican weather that comes with the festival.
"Most of [the incoming artists] know the area, and say, 'Oh, I love Raton, we used to come here when I was a kid," so it's not really a hard sell," says Brenda.
From celtic and folk to rock and country, including a hispanic heritage day, the event brings in wonderful and well-known artists like Candace Vargas, Radney Foster, Josh Gallagher, and Nashville singers and songwriters.
Sowing the seeds for a singer-songwriter festival, Crystal and Will Yates breathed the idea of the GCMF to Raton.
When Brenda met Crystal, Crystal's focus at the time was country music and she cut a couple of albums, but as she was going through her journey, she realized herself to be a Christian artist. Now, Crystal and Will are music leaders in their church in McKinney, Texas, and bring their children to Raton every year for the festival as a family vacation.
"I happened to be a judge the year that Crystal performed at the Shuler Theater and won the regional Colgate Country Showdown, and she went on to win the $100,000 prize in Nashville," says Brenda. "She fell in love with Raton and always had this connection to our theater and the people here."
At first, Crystal came to Brenda with the idea to plan a Christmas concert at the Shuler and made it a food drive for the community in 2014.
Brenda says Raton MainStreet sponsored the event and it was fun and exciting. Crystal and Will eventually sat down with the city manager and said the town was perfect for a singer-songwriter festival, thus beginning the origins of the large festival we know and love today.
The city manager was on the board and with the help of the Yates' ties to the country music industry, Deana Carter headlined the first festival in 2015. As the city commission, MainStreet board of directors, festival planning committee, and the Lodger's Tax Board met, they threw out several festival names.
"People always call us the gateway to New Mexico, but we did a little research and there was another gateway festival somewhere," remembers Brenda.
"I believe it was Jason Phillips who said, 'Well we are the gate city!' So that is where [the name] came from... and our [identifiable] logo was done by Brad McQuery, the son of the original committee member Kathy McQuery."
Over the years, the singer-songwriter portion of GCMF became an opening spot for local artists to perform at the headline show. The headlining show always includes a local talent, Will and Crystal, and the contracted headliner.
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