Looking for 2022 summer fun? Here are 5 festivals to enjoy in El Paso and New Mexico

If you like to plan your summer, you've come to the right place.

Here are five festivals to put on your calendar. Some require driving outside of El Paso, so fill up the tank.

Sun City Craft Beer Festival

After waiting for more than a year, El Paso beer lovers will be excited for the return this weekend of the Sun City Craft Beer Festival at the El Paso convention center.

Times will be 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21, and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 22. Entry will be at noon for VIP ticket holders. 

The festival is a chance to try 170 or so craft beers from some El Paso and regional breweries. It also offers an indoor sports bar and a liquor lounge. Ticket includes access to the festival on the select day, 10 2-oz. samples of craft beer, the opportunity to purchase full beers and other beverages, and a commemorative festival mug. For ages 21 and older.

General admission is $30, plus fees. Tickets are available online through universe.com.

El Paso Sal y Limon Street Festival

Get ready for a festival that celebrates tacos, tequila and popular local musicians with the El Paso Sal y Limon Street Festival.

The festival will be from 2 p.m. to midnight June 4 in Downtown El Paso on Main and Stanton streets. All ages are welcome. Kids 12 and younger get in free when accompanied by an adult.

Performers will include Sonora Skandalo, Fungi Mungle and Johnny Kage's Noche De Juarez.

The event will feature different tacos, beers, margaritas, tequila, a chile pepper eating contest, live lucha libre and merchandise vendors.

Tickets are $20, plus fees, and are available online at salylimonep.com. VIP tickets are $60, plus fees.

Cherry Festival

Celebrate dad by taking him to the Cherry Festival set for June 18-19 at the Nichols Ranch, 236 Cottonwood Canyon, La Luz, New Mexico, in the Sacramento Mountains, 20 minutes from Alamogordo.

Visitors will be able to walk among various arts and crafts vendors as they make their way to the top of the ranch, where the cherry trees are. There is a small van available for those who need help getting to the top.

People will be able to pick various kinds of cherries directly from the trees or buy already picked cherries in bags. Prices are the same whether picked or purchased from the tables.

And don't forget to get a cherry pie, the perfect treat for any dad.

More:Cherry picking season kicks off strong in New Mexico amid COVID-19

Roswell UFO Festival

All that's needed is real aliens to walk around when Roswell, New Mexico, hosts its UFO Festival during Independence Day weekend. The dates are July 1-3.

This will be a special year for the Roswell UFO Festival, which is marking the 75th anniversary of the Roswell incident.

Highlights will include the Galaxy Fair at the Roswell Convention Center, with plenty of vendors, live music, a beer garden, educational speakers, children’s entertainment and craft activities, as well as a kids' funhouse, the Roswell Museum and Robert H. Goddard Planetarium, a 5K Alien Chase starting outside DeBremond Stadium on July 2, and stargazing events.

Stay informed by going to the Roswell UFO Festival Facebook page.

El Paso Plaza Classic Film Festival

Organizers of the Plaza Classic Film Festival are excited about what's in store for film buffs this summer. The popular festival, hosted by the El Paso Community Foundation, is set for July 28-Aug. 7 at the Plaza Theatre.

After not being able to participate in 2020 because of the pandemic, F. Murray Abraham will be one of the festival's special guests. The Academy Award winning actor is from El Paso and attended El Paso High School.

Abraham will appear for the showing of his movie, "Amadeus," for which he won the Oscar, at 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at the Plaza Theatre.

He will have a second appearance with Texas native Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” at 4 p.m. Aug. 6, also in the Plaza Theatre.

Doug Pullen, program director, said the festival's overall themes this year will be a celebration of women filmmakers, a survey of women filmmakers from the silent era to the present; movie outlaws; teen rebellion/coming of age stories, with one-film tributes to the late Sidney Poitier and Peter Bogdanovich (who was a guest of the festival in 2010).

Plaza Classic Film Festival's screenwriting contest 

This year, the festival also has a screenwriting competition, sponsored by the El Paso Film and Creative Industries Commission. It will award a $500 first prize and a table read of the winning screenplay. It’s open to anyone 18 and older. Entries must be feature-length scripts of no more than 120 pages. There are no genre restrictions.

Screenplays may be submitted at plazaclassic.com/screenwriting. The cost to submit is $30 through May 20, $40 from May 21 through June 13, and $50 from June 14-27. For an additional $15, an entrant will receive coverage, or written feedback, of their screenplay.

For more information: 915-533-4020 or local@plazaclassic.com.

More:Need plans for summer in El Paso? Watch family films for $5 or less at these movie theaters

María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @EPTMaria on Twitter.