How to Santa Fe

Summer is high season in Santa Fe, so get out your calendar and prepare to fill it up with things to do. From major festivals to free concerts, patio dining to tailgating, hiking and road trips, sometimes it’s hard to draw a breath.

SUMMER FESTIVALS

PHOTO: GABRIELA MARKS

SANTA FE LITERARY FESTIVAL

The inaugural Santa Fe Literary Festival takes place May 20–23. The Festival’s more than 30 events will be headquartered downtown, at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Among those events are large and small lectures and conversations, lunches with celebrated chefs and cookbook authors, and walking tours with featured writers. Margaret Atwood, Sandra Cisneros, John Grisham, Joy Harjo, Bryant Terry, Colson Whitehead, and Lawrence Wright are just some of those who will speak. There will be vibrant spaces for conversation, connection, and contemplation around the books, ideas, and issues that define our time.

May 20–23, 2022 Santa Fe Community Convention Center sfliteraryfestival.org

CURRENTS 2022: CIRCUITS

Currents New Media enters its 13th year as an annual festival of art and technology. This citywide celebration of new media takes place in several locations throughout Santa Fe, including the Center for Contemporary Arts, Form & Concept gallery, the Santa Fe Fairgrounds, and Gallery 826. Currents 2022: Circuits features more than 70 artworks from local and international artists, including interactive and immersive installations, virtual and augmented reality, multimedia performances, robotics, video sound art, and more.

June 17–26 and June 22–25, 2022 Center for Contemporary Arts and other locations currentsnewmedia.org/festivals/2022

INTERNATIONAL FOLK ART MARKET

In July, the world comes to Museum Hill for the International Folk Art Market, where artists from 60 nations gather to display their work, make connections with other artists and the public, and generate income to help sustain their communities. More than 160 artists will represent another 25,000 members of cooperatives and groups that ultimately impact over 250,000 family and community members. It’s a whirlwind of color and connection, and a celebration of the humanity of the handmade.

July 6–10, 2022 Museum Hill, 706 Camino Lejo folkartmarket.org

SPANISH MARKET

In 1926, the Spanish Colonial Arts Society organized the first Spanish Market to promote local traditional Hispanic arts. Since that time, the juried show has grown to be the largest show and sale of Hispanic art in the U.S. Taking place the same weekend is Contemporary Spanish Market, featuring Hispanic artists working in various media outside the more traditional boundaries of Spanish Market.

July 30–31, 2022 Santa Fe Plaza spanishcolonial.org

INDIAN MARKET

Santa Fe’s Indian Market celebrates 100 years of showcasing Native American artwork, with more than 1,000 artists from across the U.S. and Canada selected to show and sell their work directly to collectors and visitors on and around the Santa Fe Plaza. While Indian Market proper takes place on a weekend (this year, August 20–21), in actuality it’s a weeklong, citywide series of events. The Southwest Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), the nonprofit responsible for producing Indian Market each year, sponsors dozens of these, and other businesses participate with gallery openings, special menus, and exhibitions. A big part of experiencing Indian Market is meeting artists and collectors, and the people-watching—not to mention the extravagant displays of Native jewelry and fashion—is dazzling.

August 20–21, 2022 Santa Fe Plaza and many other locations swaia.org

PHOTO: ALAMY

PATIO DINING

Summer in Santa Fe brings perfect weather for dining alfresco. Here are some of our favorites.

RESTAURANT MARTÍN

Award-winning progressive American cuisine, superb service, intimate dining rooms, and an expansive garden patio make this a destination for visitors and locals alike. Chef Martín Rios was a 2022 finalist for the James Beard Best Chef of the Southwest Award.

526 Galisteo Street restaurantmartin.com

MARKET STEER STEAKHOUSE

Hotel St. Francis is the home of Market Steer Steakhouse, winner of a Best of Santa Fe award. Elevated American comfort food is sourced from local ranches and farms, and the intimate patio has a European feel.

PHOTO: RESTAURANT MARTÍN

210 Don Gaspar Avenue, in Hotel St. Francis marketsteersteakhouse.com

COWGIRL

Barbecue, frozen margaritas, live music, and a Sunday Gospel Brunch on the patio make this a favorite spot for summer dining. Epic people-watching, too.

319 S. Guadalupe Street cowgirlsantafe.com

MUSIC IN SANTA FE

From classical to mariachi to rock ’n’ roll, music fills the summer air of Santa Fe.

SANTA FE BANDSTAND

June 9 marks the beginning of 12 weeks of some of the most diverse, eclectic, and rousing music by local and national musical acts you’ll ever get the chance to hear. Grab a lawn chair or blanket—don’t forget your dancing shoes—every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday through September 1.

Santa Fe Plaza ampconcerts.org

SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL

For six weeks each summer since 1973, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival has delighted audiences with more than 80 concerts, recitals, youth concerts, and open rehearsals of all forms of chamber music.

St. Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art 107 W. Palace Avenue

Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W. San Francisco Street santafechambermusic.org or sfcmf.org

THE SANTA FE OPERA

World-class opera, an outdoor covered theater with a stage open to the spectacular sunset behind it, and pre-performance tailgate dining in the vast parking lot all add up to a favorite Santa Fe experience. Or skip the tailgate and attend the free pre-performance lecture. Great people-watching, too.

301 Opera Drive santafeopera.org

For more calendars and information about Santa Fe’s live music scene, visit the Lensic Performing Arts Center (lensic.org), Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery (tumblerootbreweryanddistillery.com), Tiny’s Restaurant & Lounge (tinyssantafe.com), and Meow Wolf (meowwolf.com visit/santa-fe).

ROAD TRIP

PHOTO: MARA CHRISTIAN HARRIS

LOS POBLANOS HISTORIC INN & ORGANIC FARM

A short 50-mile drive to the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, near Albuquerque, brings you to the historic property of Los Poblanos, now comprising a boutique hotel, a working organic farm, and the Campo restaurant—it’s an ideal day trip or overnight stay. And don’t miss the Farm Shop, with lavender products made onsite from the expansive lavender fields surrounding the property.

4803 Rio Grande Boulevard NW Los Ranchos de Albuquerque lospoblanos.com