Las Cruces is home to the annual Whole Enchilada Fiesta. The fiesta's main attraction is the creation of a very large (on average 10 feet in diameter) flat red enchilada by local restaurant owner Roberto Estrada. The fiesta offers live music, rides, food vendors, and other attractions typical of fairs. The fiesta's mascot, "Twefie" (taken from the abbreviation of the fiesta's name) is a large red chile pepper wearing a sombrero. At the 2004 event, Guinness World Records confirmed that Estrada had made the world's largest flat enchilada (There was a pre-existing record for world's longest rolled enchilada, but not for world's largest flat enchilada). In honor of the chile crop of New Mexico, the state has adopted "Red or Green" as its official state question to specify which type of chile is preferred by a patron at a restaurant. The Southern New Mexico State Fair is usually held only a few days after the end of the Whole Enchilada Fiesta.
An now all this is at your hands when filming your next project.
Clint Eastwood found New Mexico to be a great place to film.
It's time Las Cruces has it's own production studios. Because of the climate and the resources, we are an ideal location.
That is why, in 2009 we launched the Las Cruces Studios. The first coordinated production was the Live broadcast of the Easter Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church.
Since than we have been creating television and film productions.
One of the films created at the Las Cruces Studios won 1st place in the White Sands International Film Festival.
Look what Las Cruces Has!
- Scenes from the feature film "Traffic" were shot at Las Cruces International Airport.
- In "The Killing Box", an episode of the television series Prison Break, Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows find themselves recaptured at a Las Cruces Border Patrol holding facility.
- In "Las Cruces Jail", a song by "Two Gallants", the protagonist is awaiting his execution in this city's correctional facility. The duo performed at a coffeehouse several months before its release, possibly inspiring the title.
- The 2 hour Pilot episode ;lite bulb for the TV Series "Cannon" was shot in and around Las Cruces.
- In the first season of "Mc Cloud" Dennis Weaver claimed he grew up in Las Cruces and in an episode claimed he lived in Las Cruces and worked in Taos, New Mexico (an over 300 mile commute each way)
- In 1970 the movie "Up in the Cellar" was shot in and around Las Cruces and New Mexico State University. The film features scenes where buildings were destroyed and a radio station transmitter tower is destroyed. (This was actually part of an urban renewal project that removed a large part of "Old" Downtown Las Cruces.) The film stars Larry Hagman (Dallas).
- In the early 60's a failed Pilot was shot for CBS in and around Las Cruces. The pilot starred Glenn Ford and Barbara Stanwick in a show about a county agent. The show was never aired.
- During World War II, both German and Italian POWs were kept at a Prisoner of War facility in Las Cruces.
- During the late 60's, a Church built in the 1800s around which Las Cruces was formed was torn down by the archdiocese.
- Tony-winner Mark Medoff resides here and premiered many of his works.
- Playwright and director Tom Smith (playwright) resides in Las Cruces, teaching at New Mexico State University.
- A scene for the movie Twins (film) was filmed at Las Cruces International Airport, where Arnold Schwarzenegger's character catches a flight to try and catch up to his twin brother, played by Danny DeVito.
- Several scenes from the movie Traffic (film) were filmed outside the Las Cruces International Airport.
- In the Tom Clancy novel The Teeth of the Tiger, several terrorists cross into the United States from Mexico near Las Cruces, using it as a staging point.
- The 1984 movie "Raw Courage" (Ronny Cox, Art Hindle & M. Emmet Walsh) was filmed in and around Las Cruces.
- Alternative Country band, Son Volt, mentions Las Cruces in their song "Highways and Cigarettes."
- San Antonian Doom Metal band " Las Cruces " derived their name from Las Cruces, NM
