El Paso’s Annual Poppies Fest Cancels For The Third Year In A Row

No poppies, no festival. El Paso Poppies Festival cancels for 2022.

It's almost as if Mother Nature, just like us humans, needs a moment to catch up after the rough couple of years that we've encountered.

It's a bloomless year along Castner Range, as the usual blanket of golden yellow poppies covering the mountainside has not sprouted this year.

In 2020 the City of El Paso shut everything down due to the impending pandemic, and since then, the annual event has not returned to its full bloom.

Driving over Transmountain last week, I looked out my window and noticed that there were no fields of gold.

Surprised by the absence of the cheery yellow flowers, I contacted the Museum of Archeology via social media and asked if they had plans for the Poppies Fest this year. They responded by saying:

Hello, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, there will not be a Poppies Festival this year. We also don't anticipate a huge poppy bloom this year, although some flowers are starting to come out.

So, in the interest of protecting the public's health and the lack of blooming poppies, the annual event was suspended for another year.

But all is not lost because although there are only a few scattered patches of blooming poppies, there will also be several community events benefitting the efforts to preserve Castner Range.

The Castner Range Coalition, The Frontera Land Alliance, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, the El Paso Community Foundation, the Franklin Mountain Wilderness Coalition, and the Museum of Archeology will host a series of community events through April, which include:

• Hiking at the foot of Castner Range
• Community trail-work and clean-up on Knapp Land
• Educational events for the whole family
• ArtStream: Expressive journeys through art
• Many Earth Day activities

The group effort is also calling on the Biden administration to take action to help preserve the 7,000+ acres of West Texas beauty that holds historical significance dating back thousands of years.