HENRY MCCARTY AND LINCOLN COUNTY have an almost mythical connection. That’s because the legendary outlaw, better known as Billy the Kid, staged his daring jailbreak from the Lincoln County Courthouse before eventually meeting his demise in Fort Sumner on July 14, 1881. So every year since 1940, Lincoln has put on the Billy the Kid Pageant and Old Lincoln Days to commemorate those fateful weeks and the Lincoln County War. “The pageant is a lot more than a reenactment,” says Tim Roberts, a Lincoln resident and director of the Wingfield Heritage House Museum, in Ruidoso. For the past five years, he has also participated as a voice actor in The Last Escape of Billy the Kid. “It’s considered a true pageant with a play and a script,” he says. Roberts believes that part of the timeless appeal of the Kid is his enigmatic character, which often reflects the current zeitgeist. “During the Great Depression, Billy the Kid was seen as a sort of Robin Hood figure. During the 1950s, he’s kind of a youthful rebel without a cause. The fact that his story, although he’s so famous, is somewhat unknown lets people interpret what they want about him.”
The pageant brings folks together. “All of us are community members,” says historian Tim Roberts. “A fair number are related to the people they’re portraying. There are people who have been doing it for 50 years, and their families have been doing it since it started, in 1940.”
The legend lives on. The pageant begins with the “Ballad of Billy the Kid,” recorded by one of the original pageant actors, Dan Storm, before he passed away. “It’s this really moving rendition,” Roberts says.
Everyone can be a kid. More than a peek into the past, the weekend includes food and arts vendors, parades, gunfight reenactments, and music. “If you only do one thing, come to the Saturday night pageant,” he says. “It’s the biggest crowd, and there’s live music before it starts.”
A Hopi Water Maiden performs at the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.
Photograph courtesy of the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.
GALLUP INTER-TRIBAL INDIAN CEREMONIAL
August 2–11
Kyle Tom understands the special nature of the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial, even if he struggles to fully describe the 10-day event. “You can’t really define it,” says Tom, the ceremonial’s executive director and longtime rodeo announcer. “It’s in a category all its own.” Everything that happens from August 2 to 11—including an art show, powwow, traditional dances, a pageant, a rodeo, parades, and a vendor market—links back to the first ceremonial, in 1922. “Local trading posts and artists in Gallup wanted to get tourists off the railcars and into town,” he says.
The Hatch Chile Festival sizzles with family fun.
Photograph by NMTD.
JANE ABRAMS: FIRE ON THE WATER, ROSWELL
August 2–January 12, 2025
This exhibition at the Roswell Museum showcases works created by artist and University of New Mexico professor Jane Abrams between 1968 and 2022, exploring her journey via dreamscapes.
8750’ BBQ & MUSIC FESTIVAL, RED RIVER
August 15–17
Red River serves up smoky eats and country beats over three days in the cool mountain hamlet.
PUEBLO REVOLT, SANTA FE
August 15–18
Two Indigenous brothers living under colonial rule during the 1680 Pueblo Revolt consider what the uprising means for their families and futures in this Santa Fe Playhouse–staged reading of Dillon Christopher Chitto’s comedy.
GREAT AMERICAN DUCK RACES, DEMING
August 22–25
The 45th annual races take Deming by storm with much more than fast feathered friends. A carnival, a skate competition, a tortilla toss, live music, hot-air balloons, and the Busy Bee beer and wine garden offer plenty of activities to enjoy between races.
TOTAH FESTIVAL & INDIAN MARKET, FARMINGTON
August 30–September 1
The Farmington Civic Center hosts the 35th annual festival featuring a 5K run, Indigenous artwork, a Navajo rug auction, traditional dances, and a powwow.
HATCH CHILE FESTIVAL
August 31–September 1
Fire up a good time in the Chile Capital of the World with a parade, live music, watermelon and chile eating contests, and bushels of red and green goodness.
Flock to the Great American Duck Races.
Photograph by NMTD.
