Belen’s World’s Largest Matanza blends food, music and scholarships

Every admission ticket at Belen’s World’s Largest Matanza fed more than the crowd at Eagle Park. The fundraiser, hosted by the Hispano Chamber of Valencia County, has raised more than $130,000 in scholarships and helped more than 200 students meet part of their financial needs, making turnout the difference between a full day of food and a stronger college aid pool for Valencia County families.

The 25th annual celebration drew about 8,000 people to Belen Eagle Park, where about a dozen teams served food and the event mixed New Mexico cooking with live music, vendors and a beer garden. The chamber said last year’s event raised enough to award 40 scholarships, underscoring how the matanza has become one of the county’s most visible educational fundraisers as well as one of its best-known cultural gatherings.

The event has become a January fixture in Belen. The City of Belen lists the World’s Largest Matanza as a last-Saturday-in-January event at Eagle Park, and recent listings put the 25th annual edition from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, with admission set at $20 per person at the gate. Children 10 and younger were admitted free in some listings, a detail that has helped make it a family event as well as a fundraiser.

Food remains the center of the day. Coverage of the celebration has highlighted competing categories that included carne adovada, red chile, chicharrones, liver dish and an Iron Pig dish, showing how deeply the event is tied to New Mexican food culture. KOAT Channel 7 described the 25th annual gathering as a community celebration at Belen Eagle Park, and the following year’s 26th Matanza drew nearly 8,100 people, suggesting the event’s reach has held steady.

The 2026 city calendar listed Isleta Resort & Casino as presenting sponsor and named live bands including Second to Last, Peter Vigil & All Star Band and Black Pearl Band. For Belen and Valencia County, the matanza’s value has never been only in the music or the meal: it has been a durable source of scholarship dollars and a reminder that local identity can be turned into measurable support for students.