The tamale takes center stage Saturday in Riverside

It's an ancient food that can be dated back to the Aztecs -- and here we are today, still in love with the tamale.

Riverside takes that love to the next level Saturday with its 10th annual Riverside Tamale Festival. Mariachi bands, Folklorico dancing and the headliner of the event, tamales, will converge on White Park in downtown Riverside.

The festival includes a "best tamale competition," along with musical and dance performances by Eddie Avila & Co., El Santo Golpe, Outlaw Mariachi, Felipe Orozco y Su Banda and others.

The nonprofit Spanish Town Heritage Foundation organizes the event with some of the proceeds from this year's tamale sales supporting the ongoing restoration of the Trujillo Adobe.

The 160-year-old edifice is recognized by the state as a "historic place of interest."

According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the home symbolizes the efforts of its original owner, Lorenzo Trujillo, to lead migrants, mostly Indians, who were escaping Spanish persecution to safety, often via the Old Spanish Trail.

The house formed the heart of what eventually became the La Placita de los Trujillos community. The goal is to convert it to a cultural and educational site. Last year, state lawmakers appropriated $10.4 million toward the restoration.