The Fiesta Found Us | Truth or Consequences Rodeo in 35 Photos

When we first pulled into the city of Truth or Consequences, we weren’t expecting much.

Known mostly for its hot springs, we’d planned it as a final stop on our week-long New Mexico road trip, a place to rest, recover, and make a quick day trip to White Sands before heading home. But, as we drove past the neon signed motels and into a sunset glowing over the turtleback-shaped mountain, it felt like this town had more to offer than we planned for.

As we checked into our hotel, the receptionist inquired if we had arrived in town for “The Fiesta.” We hadn’t heard of it, but always being fans of a good party, we asked her to please explain. That’s when she gave us the history lesson:

Originally named Hot Springs, NM, the town boomed in the early 1900’s with the nearby construction of Elephant Butte Dam, and a reputation for gambling, liquor, and prostitution. A true wild west town if you will. But as these vices faded from public opinion, the town floundered with the rest of the old west. Then, in 1950, they stumbled upon a chance for revival. NBC radio game show host Ralph Edwards had proposed a stunt: if a town renamed itself after his national game show “Truth or Consequences”, he’d air his nightly program live from there. Hot Springs, keen for a revitalization, took the deal, changed its name, and Edwards’ broadcast went out the very next night. After Edwards’ broadcast, he fell in love with the town and kept returning for the next 50 years, to celebrate its new namesake, each time on the first weekend in May, and with that, the annual Fiesta was born.

All of this was news to us, and in true coincidence, we’d arrived on the Friday of the first weekend of May 2025, the exact 75th anniversary of the very first Fiesta.

Instead of the quiet relaxing weekend we expected, we spent the next few days swept up in the celebrations: exploring the town’s mountainous roads, meeting the quirky townies and visitors, watching a rodeo, seeing Miss Fiesta 2025 crowned, and, of course, being asked if we wanted hatch green chiles on everything.

It was a wonderfully odd, uniquely New Mexico experience, one we felt lucky to stumble into.

After a couple days mingling around all the festivities and as The Fiesta eventually started to wind down that Saturday night, the town started to move to the outskirts, away from the main drag, and north to the dam. We were bumper to bumper being filed in, until we reached an attendant who asked us "performing or attending?” We had arrived at the grand finale of the fiesta, the annual Sierra County Sheriff’s Posse Fiesta Rodeo.

I’ve been to a few rodeos now, some of the big ones in stadiums with pyrotechnics, but this was not that. This was on a dirt road, just past the high school, with horses in each direction, and true cowboys warming up. As every other rodeo I’ve been to does, this one also started with a group prayer and the star spangled banner. But then, something different happened. Instead of a usual patriotic rah rah that we all can imagine, the flag was rode in, this time by a Mexican immigrant, Daniel Castro, complete in a Charro suit. Castro was there, as a New Mexican resident, and also a performer, as he is the National Charro Trick Roping Champion, and definitely worth a google.

It was a truly unique moment after seeing such a traditionally American weekend. In this moment where we’re all so divided, I had stumbled upon this little town in New Mexico where there was still celebration of the things that made us all different. The crowd roared as Castro rode the flag around the outdoor arena, kicking up dirt as his horse galloped and the flag waved. And then, they celebrated again as he stood in the middle of the dirt and held the flag high for the national anthem. It felt so unusual to see this kind of celebration, almost foreign and beyond anything I’ve seen over the past few years.

After Castro finished with the flag (and I snapped a pic), the evening went on, back to how most other rodeos go, cowboys chasing cows and doing tricks. But it felt different, it felt like a time I hadn’t seen in quite a while. I look back on these photos and feel a sense of nostalgia that unfortunately is quite hard to find these days. I hope, when you look at these photos, you feel it too. Thanks for following along on this journey.

Thanks to the town of Truth or Consequences for the Fiesta, I hope we’ll see you again next May.