Douglas Days

The park sits at 700 10th Street, and on the Friday of Douglas Days the gates open at six. Admission is free. Along the edges are food and craft vendors, a beer garden, jumping castles, and a kids zone; disc jockeys fill the gaps between acts on the stage. For the 2026 weekend the city advertised a car show, dance performances, and two headliners, Spandex Nation and El Señoron De La Cumbia Juan Ortega y su Grupo. The Douglas Dispatch reported Spandex Nation playing from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday after the opening ceremonies, which it placed at 10th Street Park; the city’s own listing gave Raul Castro Park, with hours of 6 to 11 p.m. and a recreation line at 520-417-7340. The city’s promotional text named the dates May 15 and 16, 2026, while the calendar entry itself read May 16–17.

“This year we wanted something different, something for everybody,” Mayor Jose Grijalva said. “We want to cater to every audience.”

G Avenue at ten o’clock

Saturday begins with the parade, which goes up G Avenue at 10 a.m. A second welcoming ceremony follows at the park, and then the bed races start at roughly 11:30. In the year the city marked the 117th birthday of its founding, the races ran on Ninth Street between E Avenue and D Avenue. Musical performances featuring entertainers from both Douglas and Agua Prieta continue through the afternoon.

The beds are pushed by teams that answer to payrolls and service clubs. At the third annual festival in 2016, the entrants were the U.S. Border Patrol, the Douglas Fire Department, Southwest Gas, and Sabor Latino Legacy running for the Douglas Noon Lions Club; the Fire Department won. A decade on, the Sunnyside Fire Department crew of Rene Mendez, Luisa Medina, Gio Medina, Fidel Quezada, and Aztlan Montano took second place in the year before the 2026 celebration.

Buildings open for the weekend as well. The Douglas Williams House, across from the park, takes visitors for tours during the celebration. Art Car World at 1012 G Ave. and the Last Supper Museum at 1011 G Ave. open both days. The Douglas Aquatic Center at 1551 E. 10th St. opens Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. In 2026 the America 250 exhibit then on display at the Grand Theatre was expected to be part of the festivities, and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes was expected to ride in the parade and bring a mobile legal services unit to help residents with notary and related work.

One year’s program ran into a second morning: free breakfast burritos, coffee, and conchas at Raul Castro Park from 7 to 9 a.m. Sunday, sponsored by Mana, El Pato, and the Blueberry Cafe, followed by an 11 a.m. opening, a Show and Shine at noon, INVU from 1 to 3, Jemini from 4 to 6, and Mariachi de Tesoro from 7 to 9. The Saturday of that weekend had Gemini from 3 to 5, Shelly Lares from 6 to 8, and Selena The Show from 9 to 11.

The man the city is named for

Douglas Days is an annual event held by the City of Douglas to mark the incorporation and history of the city, and it honors James Douglas, the man the city is named after. The 2026 edition carried the theme “Celebrating America 250 and Douglas 125” — the United States at 250 years and Douglas at 125 — with the city pairing its own anniversary against the national one.

“It’s just a big celebration,” Grijalva said. “We invite everybody from the outside to come share in our culture. Once we get them down here, they love it.” He described the weekend as a chance to put the town on display: “It’s just to showcase what we have here — great food, great culture, great music. It’ll be a great time and there will be something to do for everyone.”

Fifteen entries and three hundred dollars

The third annual festival, held May 13 and 14, 2016, at and around Raul Castro Park, opened Friday with a public talent show hosted by Nubia Romo, executive director of the Greater Douglas Chamber of Commerce. More than fifteen entries ranged from singing to dancing. First place went to the dance duet of Giovanna Gonzalez and Alan Rubio; second to a large dance group of Paula Villalobos, Jessica Rubio, Nimsi Castillo, Andrea Paco, Michelle Villalobos, Natalia Larios, Lexanie Perez, and Abigail Gonzalez; third to a group dance by Ezelynn Swanson, Violeta Hoyos, Aydil Montano, and Carol Villablobos. The city put up $300 in cash prizes.

Saturday brought a soccer tournament at Veteran’s Memorial Park in two divisions — Wind Tech won the 32-and-over, team Esqueda the under-32 — and a parade along G Avenue judged as a contest, themed on Douglas’s past, present, and future. Once Upon a Dream Dance Company placed first, Douglas Fiestas/Chinas Poblanas second, Sabor Latino Legacy third. Davy Morales, The Thunder Mountain Band, Los Gallegos, Michael Pelayo, LPs Dance Studio, BB’s Danceur Academie, and the Ballet Folklorico of Agua Prieta performed across the two days; BB’s Danceur Academie did a Hawaiian dance on the 14th. Mayor Danny Ortega Jr. and Miss Douglas Days 2016, Amelia Geovanna Cornejo-Terry, made appearances, and she posed with the winners of the first annual talent show on May 13.

“The whole idea behind this is to celebrate ourselves, and Douglas,” Ortega said at a welcoming ceremony. “To take pride in what we have been, where we are, and where we’re going down the road. With all of the talent that we’ve seen, we can be so proud to be from Douglas.”

For the eighth annual celebration, thirty members of the Douglas family came to the border town for a reunion timed to the weekend. Stuart Douglas, 80, planned the trip; relatives traveled from across the country and from the United Kingdom, and for Sandy Douglas and most of those with him it was a first visit. They wanted most to walk in the parade and meet residents. “We think of it as a celebration of the city uh that we get to join,” Sandy Douglas said. “We’re excited to be here cause it brings us together and also gives us a chance to get to know this exciting town.”