Fairs & Fiestas in Santa Fe
There are several fairs and fiestas held in Santa Fe around the year.
Santa Fe hosts a seemingly unending series of community fairs, festivals and celebrations, of which the most characteristic is the Fiesta de Santa Fe. This grand city-wide festival is held over the weekend after Labor Day in mid-September, after most of the summer tourists have left (and has been described as Santa Fe throwing a party for itself to celebrate the tourists leaving!). The celebration commemorates the reconquest of Santa Fe in 1692 by the Spanish after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Fiesta opens with a procession bearing a statue of the Blessed Virgin known as La Conquistadora to the Cathedral of St. Francis. Revelry starts with the Thursday night burning of Zozobra, also known as "Old Man Gloom," a huge, animated figure whose demise at the hands of a torch-bearing dancer symbolizes the banishing of cares for the year. Prepare for BIG crowds - this event is not for the faint of heart and can be downright scary for small children! The crowning of a queen (La Reina) of the Fiesta and her consort, representing the Spanish nobleman, Don Diego de Vargas, who played a key role in the founding of the city, is a matter of great local import. Revelry continues through the weekend and features such events as the hilarious children's Pet Parade on Saturday morning and the Hysterical/Historical Parade on Sunday afternoon. A Fiesta Melodrama at the Community Playhouse effectively and pointedly pokes fun at city figures and events of the year past. The Fiesta closes with a solemn, candle-lit walk to the Cross of the Martyrs.
A few of the other festivities during the year, arranged in (usual) chronological order through the year, are:
- ArtFeast, Edible Art Gallery Tour, February 22-25, 2007
- Santa Fe Community Days, mid-May
- Santa Fe Plaza Arts and Crafts Festivals, mid-June and Labor Day weekend
- Rodeo de Santa Fe, late June-early July
- Santa Fe Wine Festival, usually first weekend in July, located at Rancho de las Golondrinas, taste and enjoy some of the finest wines in New Mexico in the beautiful outdoor setting of a living history museum
- International Folk Art Market, early July, a huge gathering of folk artists from around the world showing their work on the Milner Plaza at Museum Hill
- Summer Antiquities Show, July
- Santa Fe Jazz Festival, mid- to late July
- Summer Spanish Market late July in the Plaza
- Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival with a series of internationally known musicians, July and August
- Mountain Man Rendezvous, mid-August, Palace of the Governors
- Santa Fe Indian Market. This annual mid-August event is the most significant Santa Fe festival for tourists and collectors. The entire downtown area is filled with vendors of American Indian arts and crafts, ranging from $10 tourist trinkets on up to breathtaking works of the highest quality. It advertises itself as the world's largest show for Native American artisans, and the description is probably accurate; an artisan who wins one of the top prizes in the juried competitions here is "made" as a significant folk art figure. Lodging is tight in town on Indian Market weekend, so if you're attending, make plans early -- Indian Market weekend in 2008 is August 23-24.
- Thirsty Ear Music Festival, August-September, Eaves Movie Ranch
- Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, in late September, pairs wines from vintners around the world with the spicy foods for which Santa Fe is known. Winemakers' dinners, special tastings and the Grand Tasting on the Santa Fe Opera grounds make for a vintage weekend! This event is a sell-out for Santa Fe, so lodging is at a premium - reserve early.
- Santa Fe Film Festival, early December; the web site is usually updated in the fall to reflect the coming offerings
- Winter Spanish Market, early December
- Las Posadas, a pre-Christmas commemoration of Mary's and Joseph's search for lodging taking place outdoors on the Plaza. This event takes place in mid December and is a truly unique experience. The audience "participates" in the play by holding candles and following Mary and Joseph in their search for lodging. El Diablo (the devil) appears on rooftops throughout the plaza and hurls insults at the crowd, which responds in kind. This is a wonderful family event.
- Farolito Walk, a Christmas Eve walk around the historic areas of downtown Santa Fe, throughout which have been set farolitos, small brown bags filled with sand and a votive candle, to light the way for the Christ Child
- Winter Antiquities Show, late December
In addition, many of the Native American pueblo communities nearby schedule dances and other ceremonies to celebrate specific feast days throughout the year that welcome tourists (along with a few that are for tribe members only).
Performing Arts
Santa Fe is an important center for music and musical groups, the most illustrious of which is the Santa Fe Opera. The opera house is on US 285 on the north side of town and is partially "open air," so that opera goers get attractive views of the Jemez Mountains near Los Alamos as an additional backdrop to what's on stage. The Santa Fe Opera is known around the world for staging American and even world premieres of new works, the operas of Richard Strauss, and promising new artists on their way up (and, to be fair, one or two aging superstars each season who are on their way down, not up). Opera season is the summer, with opening night (tickets are almost impossible to get) usually around July 1 and the last performances in mid-August. (Bring a light jacket/wrap and an umbrella to the later performances; the open-air nature of the house can make August performances nippy and drippy, although seats are protected from the rain.) Many performances sell out well in advance, so book early. (KHFM radio, frequency 95.5 MHz, airs a "ticket exchange" that may be helpful in finding tickets to sold-out performances, if you find yourself in town on the spur of the moment during opera season; they currently stream their broadcast on-line at http://www.classicalkhfm.com, so you can check the ticket exchange even before you arrive.) People-watching here can be as much fun as the opera itself; you'll see folks in the most expensive formal wear sitting next to others in jeans, which is typical of Santa Fe. Dressing up at least a little from jeans is a good idea, though. Pre-performance "tailgate dinners" in the parking lot, as though you were attending a football game or such, are part of the tradition and color; you can bring your own, or see under "Eat/Other/Splurge" below.
Other important musical/performing-arts venues in town are:
- Armory for the Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail; mainly theater.
- GiG, 1808 Second St., +1 505 989-8442, a spinoff (they describe themselves as a "stepchild") of the Jazz Festival; coffee-house environment with jazz, folk music, etc.
- Greer Garson Theatre, 1600 St. Michael's Drive, +1 505 473-6511. On the campus of the College of Santa Fe; visit the web site to see what's playing there. Comfortable, with good acoustics.
- James A. Little Theater, 1060 Cerrillos Road. On the campus of the New Mexico School for the Deaf, remarkably enough.
- Lensic Performing Arts Center, 225 W. San Francisco Street, box-office phone +1 505 988-1234. A converted movie theater with a pleasant atmosphere. As with most downtown sites, parking can be a pain, but there is a parking garage a block west that's usually OK in the evening.
- Paolo Soleri Theater, 1501 Cerrillos Road, +1 505 989-6300. An outdoor amphitheater at the Santa Fe Indian School, popular for events in spring, summer and fall.
- St. Francis Auditorium, at the Museum of Fine Arts (see above).
- In addition, many churches host concerts of various kinds, among them St. Francis Cathedral and the Santuario de Guadalupe downtown, and the remarkable Santa Maria de la Paz Catholic Community far out on the south side of town (11 College Avenue) -- extraordinary acoustics at the latter.
Some of the musical groups using these spaces are:
- Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. A professional ballet company that splits its time between Santa Fe and Aspen, Colorado. Three or four performances a year, usually at the Lensic.
- Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco/Institute for Spanish Arts. Internationally renowned Spanish/flamenco dance and music, summer season; they also offer classes (+1 505 955-8562 for class information).
- Moving People Dance A contemporary dance company that throws the annual Santa Fe Dance Festival each June.
- Musica Antigua de Albuquerque. Many groups based in Albuquerque do performances in Santa Fe as well; this one specializes in music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque, performed with period instruments as well as voices.
- MusicOne: The Santa Fe Concert Association. Not a performing group but rather the body that brings in many visiting artists.
- Sangre de Cristo Chorale. One of the best of the many "community-based" choral groups drawing on the enormous pool of skilled singers in northern New Mexico. Two repertoires per year (usually Christmas, with a well-regarded dinner concert, and spring), as well as special events throughout the year.
- Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Fully professional choral music, with summer and winter programs, including works specifically commissioned for the ensemble.
- Santa Fe Pro Musica. Chamber orchestra, multiple performances from September through April.
- Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus. Classical and contemporary works performed September through May, including interpretive lectures and occasional youth concerts.
- Santa Fe Women's Ensemble. A 12-voice choral group, performances Christmas and spring.
- Serenata of Santa Fe. Yet another choral group with a September-to-May schedule.
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