Annual Events & Festivals - Annual Events And Festivals
Arts festivals, celebrations deeply rooted in the area’s history and traditions, family events: Santa Fe’s schedule of special events is unmatched in communities twice its size. As is true in most places, summer means more activities. But there’s something to do year-round. Many events here are benefits for one good cause or another, a testament to Santa Fe’s generosity.
August brings Santa Fe’s most popular event, Indian Market. The two-day show and sale, the largest in the country, highlights the best in American Indian arts. It packs Santa Fe’s hotels and restaurants, and sends some locals packing, too! Galleries around town honor their best and best-selling artists on market weekend with exhibits and gala openings. Indian Market includes a growing performing-arts component, offering a chance for American Indian musicians, storytellers, and dancers to perform before an appreciative audience.
While Indian Market draws the most visitors, Fiesta wins hands-down as Santa Fe’s oldest celebration and takes the honors as a favorite with residents. Held the weekend following Labor Day, Fiesta commemorates Santa Fe’s Spanish heritage with parades and pageants, music, dancing, and food galore. Fiesta also has a strong religious element, celebrating the contribution of the Franciscan missionaries and the city’s deeply rooted Catholic heritage.
Christmas in Santa Fe showcases the community’s rich traditions in the most enchanting way. Farolitos—little bags filled with sand and lit with a small candle—and luminarias, or bonfires, line the streets and light the way for the Christ child and for neighbors and churchgoers on Christmas Eve. A troupe of Spanish-speaking actors reenacts Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn as an ancient Christmas pageant, Las Posadas, each December on the Santa Fe Plaza.
Spring brings the annual Easter pilgrimage to the historic Santuario de Chimayó Church, about 40 miles north of Santa Fe. Pilgrims from throughout New Mexico walk to the shrine on Good Friday as a testimony to their faith or to ask for divine blessings.
Summer offers a full schedule of performing- and visual-arts events—too many to list separately in this chapter. From June through August the city buzzes with choices ranging from storytelling in a tepee to lectures on culture and history, and from ballet to flamenco performances. The visual-arts scene sparkles with gallery openings and outdoor art shows and fairs. Please see our The Arts chapter for more specific information about the Santa Fe Opera and classical music concerts. And whenever you’re planning to visit, check the local papers to see if a big-name jazz artist, a reggae concert, or who-knows-what-else has arrived for the weekend.
Overview
We’ve organized this list of highlights based on when the event usually occurs. Unless otherwise noted, prices are per adult ticket, and parking is free. (During Indian Market, Fiesta, and other big celebrations some entrepreneurs and nonprofit groups may set up lots and charge for parking. If you don’t want to pay, you can park elsewhere for free, but you’ll have a longer walk.) You’ll notice that many events happen on the Plaza. You’ll find the Plaza downtown at the northern end of Old Santa Fe Trail, at the corner of Lincoln and Palace avenues. In addition to this calendar, don’t forget the public events at the Indian pueblos near Santa Fe, which are listed in the Pueblo Culture section of our Local Culture chapter.
1. Souper Bowl Sunday
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 471-1633
Address: 1222 Siler Rd.
Description: Timed to coincide with the real Super Bowl, this event combines fun and fund-raising. Those who attend have an opportunity to sample soups from more than 35 of Santa Fe’s finest restaurants and vote for their favorites. Best soups usually end up on the restaurant’s menu. Proceeds benefit the Food Depot, Santa Fe’s local food bank, which provides food to more than 60 nonprofit agencies in northern New Mexico.
2. Art Feast
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 603-4643
Description: The Santa Fe Gallery Association and ARTsmart combine efforts for this event, a fund-raiser for ARTsmart’s work in the Santa Fe schools. You can celebrate the art of food and food as art. Some of Santa Fe’s top chefs are paired with galleries to create beautiful, edible art. Begun in 1998, the tour grows more popular every year. The offerings in prior years have included venison gumbo, miniature sweet potato pies, and homemade sausage.
3. Jeff Gladfelter Memorial Bump Run
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 982-4429
Description: The area’s best mogul skiers and snowboarders compete for glory and prizes in the annual Gladfelter competition named for the late photographer who enjoyed building caves on ridges in the ski area. The Snowboard Championships include jumps, half-pipes, and a slalom course and draw snowboarders from throughout the region. The event is held in March, depending on snow conditions. Spectators are welcome, but you have to be able to ski or snowboard to get to the course, and you’ll need a lift ticket.
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
5. Bach Festival
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 988-4640
Description: Santa Fe Pro Musica treats Santa Fe residents and visitors to several evenings of the music of J. S. Bach and his talented sons. A past program featured performers on instruments from Bach’s time presenting St. Matthew’s Passion. Santa Fe Pro Musica musicians were joined for the performance by the Smithsonian Chamber Players. Chamber music and cantatas are among the festival’s highlights, along with sonatas and concertos of all sorts.
6. Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 827-6344
Description: Celebrate the work of 180 traditional and contemporary Indian artisans at this Memorial Day weekend festival at Santa Fe’s new convention center. Meet the artist, purchase unique items, and support MIAC programs.
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
8. Annual Plaza Arts And Crafts Festival
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 988-7621
Description: Challenge New Mexico, a group that works with people with disabilities and sponsors a popular and a successful horseback therapy program, benefits from this show. You’ll find arts and crafts from all disciplines. Everything is handmade by professional artists. You can chat with the artisans, and food and live music add to the weekend’s festivities. The mid-month event attracts artists from throughout the region. Admission is free.
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
10. Juan Siddi Flamenco Theatre Company
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 988-1234, Lensic box off
Address: 750 North Francis Dr.
Description: In 2008, internationally acclaimed local flamenco legend María Benítez and her dance group officially retired from nightly summer performances in the hotel theater named for her after many years entertaining Santa Feans and visitors. In 2009, the Juan Siddi Flamenco group stepped into Ms. Benitez’s famous shoes. The world-renowned ensemble of leading dancers, singers, and guitarists from the United States and Spain reflects the passionate and dramatic world of Spanish dance. The season runs from late June through Labor Day Weekend and includes six performances per week at 8:30 p.m. nightly except Tuesday.
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Address: 7 miles north of Santa Fe
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
14. Santa Fe Botanical Garden’S Garden Tours
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 988-1234, Lensic box off
Description: From Memorial Day through Labor Day, Santa Fe’s nonprofit Botanical Garden offers glimpses of some of the most interesting and beautiful private gardens in Santa Fe and other nearby communities. Scheduled tours might include artists’ gardens or xeric sites, which use drought-tolerant plants to great advantage. The tours are self-guided and, due to their popularity, have been known to sell out, so book early. Advance tickets are discounted to members. A tour of fall garden gems is often offered as well.
15. Santa Fe Desert Chorale
City: Santa Fe, NM
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (505) 988-2282, (800) 244-4011
Description: The Desert Chorale, New Mexico’s only professional vocal ensemble, offers more than 25 performances of four separate concert repertoires throughout July and early August. Since its inception in 1983, the Desert Chorale has been noted for its effective programming and virtuoso performances. Critics and audience members have consistently praised the chorale for presenting some of the world’s most significant and engaging repertoire—from the ancient to the modern. Summer concerts begin at 8 p.m. except Sunday, when the ensemble performs at 4 p.m. The company also offers a winter season and a Christmas holiday series. The Desert Chorale performs its concerts at the Santuario de Guadalupe, the Loretto Chapel, and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, settings as beautiful as the music.