New Mexico-Red Dirt Black Gold Festival Celebrated

Celebrating the region's economic history and the people who work to keep it going, the Red Dirt Black Gold Festival in Artesia started the day Saturday with a large turnout for the Oil Olympics.

The Artesia Arts Council and the Arts and Cultural District, along with the Artesia Chamber of Commerce coordinated the festival with its various events.

The oil-field Olympics brought out more than 20 teams representing various oil-field related companies, along with their families.

"It's been a lot of fun, and it's been good to see so many teams turn up for the event," said Nancy Tadic, who helped judge the PPE gear dress-up at the Olympics. "It's great to see this many people here, even with the down turn in oil prices."

The oil-field Olympics featured four separate events including, a drill bit toss, a Keiser sledgehammer race, a personal protective equipment dress up race and an obstacle course that required teams to build a battery tank model.

The Keiser sledgehammer race required team members to switch back and forth moving the Keiser with a sledgehammer, and the PPE dress up race required teams to put on five pieces of required gear as fast as possible.

The PPE dress up race brought many laughs from spectators, as creativity gained the team extra points, which included teams donning feathery and glittery boas.

Sandra Borges, another event volunteer said the whole event looks to be promising for the future

"This event was a way to honor the oil and gas industry and the people who work it," Borges said, adding that the morning's competition was a great team building event for companies.

"It's a moral booster for our town," Borges said.

By Sarah Matott

Source: Current-Argus

Images from the event

More than 20 teams competed in the oil-field Olympics in Artesia on Saturday. One of the events required teams to rotate back and forth as they used all their strength to move the Keiser with a sledgehammer.

The final event at the oil-field Olympics required teams to run through an obstacle course and then build a model battery tank at the end.

For the PPE dress up event, teams were given additional points for creativity on top of the five required pieces of gear.