From Thursday, July 2 to Saturday, July 4, Roswell celebrated their 17th annual UFO Festival on the courthouse lawn and down Main Street, which has the acclaimed UFO Museum among other alien-themed stores and entertainment venues.
Attendees perused a line of food vendors, watched live music and participated in a host of activities throughout the three-day event. These included circus and acrobatics shows, costume contests and the unveiling of a plaque honoring the festival since its founding in 1999.
The city of Roswell skyrocketed to fame after an unidentified flying object allegedly crashed onto a sheep pasture in 1947. The U.S. military claimed the event was caused by nuclear testing equipment, sparking conspiracies of a cover-up. The “Roswell Incident” turned the city into a major tourism hub and remains a fascinating mystery to this day.
Here are some photos to relive the excitement of the UFO Festival from Carlsbad Current-Argus Reporter Medha Sarin.
Janie Violet, a self-proclaimed “singer, alien and cowgirl,” performs a new song on the Main Stage on June 2.Alma Salazar, 38, and her children Aaliyah, Favio Jr. and Stefon admire a mural of the American flag outside the Roswell Visitor Center on June 2.Travis Dixon, 35, owner of merchandise shop Conspiracy Corp., serves customers on June 2.A UFO mock-up from the 1962 animated sitcom “The Jetsons” sits on display on June 2.Movie makeup artist Courteney Candengo and her son, Anfernee Rocha Jr., show up in style on June 2.Attendees walk past a line of vendors at the festival on June 2.Performers from traveling acrobatics company Aerial Aura put on a gravity-defying show on June 2.Ward 2 City Councilor Juliana Halvorson introduces Mayor Timothy Jennings at the festival on June 2.Tom Jennings, who co-founded the UFO Festival in 1995, delivers a speech about the history of the event on June 2. Jennings is the former mayor and the brother of current mayor Timothy Jennings.Festival co-founder Tom Jennings calls up singer Janie Violet from the crowd to introduce herself during speeches on June 2.Festival co-founder Tom Jennings unveils a new installation – a tribute to the festival and its founders – across from the courthouse on June 2.The new installation is pictured on June 2.Festival co-founder Tom Jennings speaks to members of the crowd after the installation unveiling on June 2.A extraterrestrial human watches the festivities from the lawn next to the visitor center on June 2.
