This week at Arizona illustrated Holiday Special with a winter clothing tradition people come through, especially with their young kids.

It's such a happy thing.

Barbie is Kwanzaa.

I didn't understand Kwanzaa until my back.

My point.

Found the dog to with Josephine on.

So the is whether you are Mexican or not, and we all love the money and a wicked.

On a typical year, we usually get about 300,000 people throughout the week.

Welcome to Arizona illustrated, I'm Tom McNamara, and we're here at the Winter Haven Festival of Lights, and I have to say it's great to be back among the decorations and the dazzling displays of lights.

You know, the festival took a year off last year due to the pandemic as COVID took a toll on family life and holiday traditions.

But this year, many are bringing those customers back.

And on the show, we're going to show you a few of the traditions that make the season right, starting right here in Winter Haven.

[Holiday Music] [Shawn] I've been here all my life, and it never gets old watching people come through, especially with their young kids.

It's such a happy thing and it's something that we need.

And for that reason, it just turns me on to a good vibe, you know?

My name is Shawn Bethel.

I've been here since 1961.

I am currently the longest resident in this neighborhood.

[Holiday Music] Well, I'll tell you a little about the history of this, these trees that you're looking at, the Aleppos, the Eldaricas, all these trees were small, very small.

You could actually stand and touch the top of them when I was six years old.

So we used to decorate these trees with different bulbs.

This kind of bulb was called a C9.

They're so bright you wouldn't need more than 100, 200 lights.

Now they use little bulbs, and I got one in here.

It's different these days.

If you can see that, that's the difference.

Nowadays, it's thousands of lights.

I have close to 30 thousand here.

Yeah.

And by tomorrow, maybe a little more.

[Shawn laughing] [Child] than we can ride it!

[Man] No, we're not going to ride it.

[Child] Yes I can!

[Man] No, we're not riding it.

[Kayla] We first moved to Winterhaven in July of 2020, right at the height of the pandemic as the mountains were burning.

It was not the best timing.

This is our first official Festival Of Lights.

as residents.

We've been coming to it...

Honestly, my whole life.

But after actually living in Winterhaven, this is our first year.

So we're really excited.

[Holiday Music] This year, I am the chair of the block captains, and it's my job to ensure that every street gets the amount of lights that they need, that the lights are functioning, that they have extension cords, that everything is as efficient and successful as possible.

Doing that job was great because it introduced me to a lot of neighbors that maybe I haven't met yet because we moved in in the midst of their pandemic.

Certain annual events at Winterhaven does, like the Festival Of Lights, were put on pause, and so I wasn't able to meet a whole lot of neighbors yet, and doing this was just a really great way to get connected.

My connection to Winterhaven began as a little girl, I came every year, it was absolutely hands down my favorite part of living in Tucson.

And I just always thought, Oh, one day I want to live in Winterhaven.

That would be so cool.

Fast forward to Christmas night of 2009.

I was dating my now husband and he knew how much I loved Winterhaven and how much I loved Christmas.

And my favorite place in Winterhaven is the wishing tree where you write your wish down.

And he had surprised me in front of the wishing tree.

He had his own tree setup with wishes for us and for our relationship, and he got down on one knee and proposed.

And now living here we have three little girls and we get to show them this is where Daddy asked me to marry him.

This is where our story began.

And so it's just magical.

Winterhaven is magical, and it's just always held a very dear place in my heart.

[Holiday Music] [Jeffrey] My name is Jeffrey Scott Brown, and I've lived in Winterhaven since 1964.

That's 57 years.

Last year was a little tough because we didn't have the festival like we normally do.

It's the second time in the history of the festival that we have not held it and it's a little bit of a darkness, a little a little emptiness.

We lost my dad last year towards the tail end, just a couple of weeks before Christmas.

I remember so many fond memories of growing up here and My dad, they kind of called him unofficially, the mayor of Winterhaven, because he was very social and he loved gardening and he loved planting trees.

And there's so many of the pine trees in the neighborhood now that he planted.

There's probably going to be at least 20 or 30 in here that he's planted.

When I'm going through the neighborhood and taking a walk or driving around.

It just kind of warms my heart because it's creating beautification.

It's part of him that's still alive and it's bringing joy to other people.

And that's what he instilled in each one of us.

I'm the eldest of five and and we all do our part in the community and of course, during the festival.

And it's a good tribute back to him.

It's a legacy that he and mom has left us.

[Woman] So we wanted to honor and remember Stan and his family for their numerous contributions to the festival with a special award to put in their yard.

And it reads, Honoring Stan and the brown family for a lifetime of contributions to the Festival Of Lights.

[Cheering] [Woman] Come on up.

[Cheering] [Jeffrey] After 57 years, I just want to say that bringing this joy to people is a really special thing and is a gift that I really cherish.

The Winter Haven Festival of Lights began way back in 1949.

That's 72 years ago, a long time ago, and it's one of the longest running events in Tucson.

And the chair of this year's festival is with me, John Lansdale and John.

Welcome back this year.

Congratulations.

It's looking great.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

We're really glad to be back.

So taken last year off.

I know it's a shame, but you're back in full force and it looks dynamite.

How did this whole thing begin?

Well, a guy named C.B.

Richards, he was a developer out of Los Angeles.

Mm hmm.

He decided he was going to develop a neighborhood in Tucson that was different than any of the other neighborhoods we had.

So he started to build the homes here.

Mid-century homes in the Winter Haven area started planning big, bright trees.

And then, after a few years, he started offering cash prizes for the best Christmas decorations.

Well, after a few years that grow that grew, he offered a few more prizes and a few more prizes.

And then he eventually handed it over to the away and they continued it.

The rest is history now, and you can't beat the cost of admission.

It's free, but it's free.

But we do this for one big reason for the community food bank.

So everybody should be bringing canned food bags or canned food.

Some people right with two or three bags of groceries and they put it in the bins and we usually donate to the community food bank.

Yeah.

£40,000.

It's a great effort, John.

Good luck this year and again, nice to have you back and thank you.

I'm glad we're back to learn more about this year's event.

Go to WinterHavenFestival.org Another family tradition is upon us, Kwanzaa, and there's one to and who's devoted her life to helping others understand and celebrate this tradition, including their African heritage (Barbea) one of the things that Maulana Karenga, the founder of Kwanzaa, taught us, he said, if you want to live for eternity, you have to build for eternity.

And we're that's what we're doing and rebuilding and reconnecting with our culture and our people Kwanzaa is a way of knowing.

Again, a way of knowing about myself when you hear like even like the Lion King, her grandma.

And you don't understand and you don't know why, because it's just that that that a Google, it's that spirit that Google is like that ancestral spirit that connects us to who we are.

And you hear it and it gives you this elation and this feeling about power and strength and empowering yourselves as African people.

My name is Barbara Williams, and I'm the artistic director and co-founder of the Barbara Williams performing company.

And so I started celebrating Kwanzaa in 1967.

This was the year after Kwanzaa had been initiated.

We were definitely on the south side of Chicago and which is just so rich in activism and culture and people and leaders.

We arrived in Tucson June the 12th 1972.

We it was pretty much a culture shock for us.

There was no, no really talk or concept of Kwanzaa.

So as a family, we started celebrating it here.

We just continued our celebration and we just started pulling in families and people that were interested again and beginning to know about who we are as people of African descent.

My name is Roland Benson, produced by wife Angela is my daughter.

Her daughter took dance with Barbie.

And we just became enamored with her.

Contributions to the community, and so we began to kind of follow Barbara and and her family and we that's how we learned about Kwanzaa.

All right, you have yours.

So I would invite.

All right.

What's going on here?

My name is Beah Williams and Barbie Williams is my mother.

I have been celebrating Kwanzaa all my life.

I didn't understand Kwanzaa until I got into my twenties when I found the value behind why we were brought up celebrating Kwanzaa and the value of passing that on to my son as well.

(Barbea) I feel like I have devoted my life to that.

That calling that sense of being chosen because we didn't know we had that disconnect.

Known beyond how badly I.

Every year that we've celebrated, it's been a learning experience, and I love the way that we share.

The principles and the ideas, I just really like that everybody is involved and everybody plays a part.

Each family member typically gets a principal and they're in charge of that day, so they do the presentation.

There's usually some sort of activity or game to get everybody involved, as well as they're in charge of choosing the meal for that day.

So it's probably the only time of year that we see each other every day for seven days.

So it's kind of nice.

(Beah) Kwanzaa, let's go back is an African-American celebration So it's a non-religious holiday that was started in 1966 by Maulana Carina from the US organization.

He saw what was going on with the Watts riots and how it was tearing our communities apart.

He developed this seven day principals with symbolizing of the seven days which have a significance to how we rebuild our communities are black communities, the English names of the seven principals of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

My name is Tariq Rasool.

And I'm the inventor of the Songhai Drummers I decided to start playing African drums about 34 years ago when I met Miss Barbea Williams in her performing company.

And she had access to African drummers.

And you can't talk about Mother Africa unless you talk about the traditional drum, because the drum is the heartbeat of civilization.

I mean, that's what it does.

It helps to celebrate Kwanzaa, the dance and the drum thing, Goma, which they say they connect.

There's no separation.

The dance of the drum, they work together, right?

Well, one of the principles is creativity.

We have created a way to reconnect our our culture.

For upcoming events with the bar, Bill Williams performing company, check out their Web site at BWPCArizona.com Food is a major part of the holidays.

And one popular custom dates back thousands of years to Mesoamerica.

We're talking about the making of tamales now, a tasty tradition for millions of people in countries all over the world.

Next, meet a feisty grandmother who joins us in the Mission Garden Kitchen to talk about how this popular dish has been passed down through the generations.

JOSEFINA: I'm retired.

I thought I was going to be just sitting and enjoying my old age, but I'm still very active with the community.

I'm not home, and if I'm home, I'm outside gardening or inside cooking.

I don't do very much cleaning in the house.

[UPBEAT MUSIC] We have the olives.

We got a very small slice of jalapeno, I always use fresh oregano.

Oregano is what makes the Red Chili to taste good.

Oregano and cumin seed.

Flour, this is 5 pounds, which makes around 19 tamales, depending on the size.

Some people make an extra big so that they can have only one.

Usually they're two tamales plus the beans and the massa has to be fresh and moist.

The measurements are in your mouth.

Keep on tasting.

I'm shaking, but the doctor said it was okay.

Like I'm scared.

CREW: No, no no JOSEFINA: But, I'm not scared of any of you guys.

TONY: Josefina, tell me how old you are and when did you make your first tamales?

JOSEFINA: You don't want to know my age.

I don't want - - They say "that Old Lady made a mistake" because that's the time when I forget everything, but I'm 85.

But I went back to 64 with my next birthday.

I'm going to start 64 again so that I can feel psychologically young.

I started to make my first tamales in San Francisco when I had just gotten married.

For the family and for friends who didn't know what a tamale was.

And they enjoyed it, they told me.

So I said, I want to make tamales.

And here, when I came to Tucson in 1962, I had a child and I found a job in store.

But what they pay me wasn't not enough to pay the babysitter, so I decided to make some tamales.

At that time the-- The meat that was $0.95 was on sale for about $0.69 a pound.

So I got me a couple of pounds of carne and the massa, and I made some tamales.

And it was not too good because it was the first week, so in the third week, I started to make up tamales and I decided to quit my job because the income was very low So the tamales were the answer to my problem.

Then I got some money saved to start my flower shop because I am a florist and I decided to to make flowers in the house.

So that's the way I started the tamales and my floral business, from here.

My mom had a restaurant for more than 20 years, back in Nayarit where I come from.

And I could see I could not touch anything because the lady just like that.

This is very significant because that's when you can see what the gathering of the family.

They're all together doing one.

Somebody spreading the massa.

Someone put it the meat, pass it, and the other ones wrap them up.

The kids are always the inspectors and the ones who taste because we make some first to taste.

Many people make them all year, I make them all year, and I cook big.

I'm used to cook big and put them in Ziploc bags, put them in the freezer, getting them out frozen, put them in the pan, in the pot and defrost it there and cook for one hour.

And that's when you have.

It doesn't have to be a special time.

The meat is on sale.

This is on sale.

That's when you make a is a good opportunity to make a tamalata and the tamalatas are welcome all year round.

TONY: How much longer are you going to be making tamales?

JOSEFINA: Well, as long as I live.

I like making tamales, but I'm a loner because my children know they only come when they're ready.

They don't help anymore, but they know.

That's what it is, because we have to spread the culture to taste the Mexican taste.

So tamales, whether you are Mexican or not any.

People love the tamales.

They're good for every occasion, for holidays, for birthdays, every day.

[UPBEAT MUSIC] Being in Winter Haven, it's apparent that residents here put a lot of effort into their holiday decorating to have fun along the way, and those who put in the extra effort might have an award coming in here.

To tell us more about that is Sandy Carrico.

You are the coordinator of the almighty judges who decide who's the best of the lot each year.

How many judges do you coordinate for this?

You know, I try to keep it at about six to eight, a little too few.

You don't get enough diversity and too many.

It's just it's too hard to decide.

So half a dozen judges, how many categories do you have Oh my gosh, we have 21 categories, so it's a little overwhelming.

Yeah.

The judges have to do.

And then we have other awards that the mail carrier, the president of our association, Community Food Bank, also picks one.

There's a very special award, the CB Richard Award, every year.

Tell us about that.

CB Richards was the founder of The Neighborhood, and so we have an award that honors him and the legacy he created here.

And so the residents do get to choose that award.

And so we vote.

Everyone votes on that one and that becomes the grand prize and they get a trophy and a little bit extra nice recognition.

Nice.

Sandy, thank you and happy holidays.

Thank you.

Have a great time in Winter Haven.

We do always do thank you.

To see all of the category winners go to WinterHavenFestival.org The fourth Avenue Street fair is back for the first time since 2019 after cancelations due to the pandemic.

The biannual event, which started 51 years ago, now draws about 600,000 people to downtown Tucson.

So we caught up with shoppers and vendors and organizers as the event returned to find out what's new and let them reflect back on the last two years.

What a Crowd.

The fair is back!

The street fair is back.

The 51st annual winter street there kicks off today at 10:00 a.m..

The weather's beautiful.

I would like to be on TV, sir.

On a typical year, we usually get about 300,000 people throughout the weekend, have some food, do some holiday shopping, visit the local businesses on fourth Avenue and maybe even catch Santa.

This is my first street fair.

So I'm from the East Coast, from Boston, and I'm so excited to be here.

She's my coworker.

She told me that it's not Christmas until we go.

I didn't really believe her.

And now I, I understand, I understand, and we're playing hooky from work.

So we're here.

This guy is ready for a beer.

Start the fair with a beer.

Get your cold brew here.

It's your morning.

Brew.

It's beer o'clock any time.

Well, the street fair is back after a two year hiatus Stay hydrated.

We're with the West University Neighborhood Association.

We are the largest historic preserved zone in the state of Arizona.

All the neighborhoods are allowed to operate beer, both those neighborhoods that are impacted by the street fair themselves.

It is our biggest fundraiser of the year, so we have the primo spot this year.

7TH Street and fourth Avenue is the highest grossing beer booth location at the entire fair.

Get your beer here.

Stay hydrated.

Stay hydrated.

That's what I to say.

Everyone has got so much pent up demand for getting out and getting out in the sun in Arizona.

It's just going to be pandemonium.

It's going to be like a hootenanny of crazed javelinas.

Thank you very much.

This is all we do, we travel around a lot of different states.

We go to California, we're going to Minnesota, Wisconsin and to not be able to do that.

It hurts us a lot.

This is actually our, probably one of our biggest show during the winter season.

We've been here for quite a long time, I believe seven or eight years already after covid.

We're glad to be back.

As seeing familiar faces, a lot of regular has come by already.

We love it man.

I can be happier than this.

This is my second time trying it and the second time I've been having success with it.

So I come back because of the people and because of how big the show is.

Sometimes some of these are lost in the cupboards and they forget that they're there.

And so with me one day thinking, What can I do with them, you know, to give them or upcycle them again?

I thought of the wind chimes.

I was disabled recently within the last two years.

So this is makes gives me extra money.

I like doing what I do and being here after two years.

It makes me happy here.

You guys.

I bought this iron artwork.

I just bought a house here in Tucson, so I'm staying for a while and I'm planning to paint my front door this turquoise color So I thought that I would look really good on the outside of my house.

The work and the effort, and the blood, sweat and tears that go into your own business of supporting local artists.

Local vendors like this is really special.

Did you guys want to take a picture with Santa?

You want to.

I stand right here and one over here to.

What do you guys want for Christmas?

I have been wanting a toy, a toy drone.

Oh yeah, with a camera, too.

Wow.

Far as being a Santa in Tucson, a little bit difficult.

I had four events last year that I did in Tucson.

Year before that had 16 December, about 20.

So last year was a big lull in the business.

I wanted to tell you my kittie's name, tell me tell me Pepe!

Oh my gosh, that's a great name.

With the pandemic happening, I have lost two family members myself, so it's been very difficult.

But the thing we need to do is just take care of each other love each other and always be there for each other, Whether it be on the streets or at home or with your friends at work.

Look out for one another because that's all we have is each other right now.

Thank you for joining us for sto full of traditions, from Kwanzaa to tamales to neighborhood exhibitions.

In a season where joy, peace and hope are celebrated, we bid you happy holidays from Arizona, illustrated.

Take it away.

For one thing.

Christmas song Christmas song