PUT ON YOUR best boots and biggest hat and get ready for a rootin’ tootin’ time at the Wild West Frontier Festival. The fictional 1880s mining town of Jamestown, New Mexico, pops up at the Wildlife West Nature Park, in Edgewood, from June 6 to 7, welcoming visitors to its establishments, like the Red Stag Tavern. The festival is inhabited by a cast of local characters that includes town founder Doc Emmet Brown, Marshal Tiny “Dead Eye” Douglass, and livery and stable operator Mabel Jane. “It’s kind of like walking back in time,” says event producer Eric Vigil. In addition to a Wild West setting, the two-day event features live music, a petting zoo, axe throwing, more than 70 Western-style merchants, and a Saturday barn dance. Here are three activities not to miss.
Pan for gold. Grab a bag of premixed “gold pan dirt” and see if it holds any treasures. “All along these rivers and creeks in New Mexico, you can find gold,” Vigil says. “Gold panning is fun.”
Gunfights. The New Mexico Gunfighters stage outrageous old-school shoot-outs throughout the weekend. “It’s a clash between the good and bad guys,” Vigil says. “It feels like something you would see on TV.”
Chili cook-off. New this year, the Sunday contest puts home cooks to the taste test—no chuck wagon required—for cash prizes. “Since this is a growing event, there’s so much more we want to do,” Vigil says.
Carmen Talegona dances in a U.S. premiere at Festival Flamenco Alburquerque.
Photograph courtesy of Ariel Guevara.
Festival Flamenco Albuquerque
June 19–27
A blur of colorful skirts and powerful rhythms grace intimate venues and big stages during Festival Flamenco Alburquerque, June 19–27. The largest flamenco festival in the country honors an art form with generational practice in the Land of Enchantment, featuring performances by international flamenco artists and local ensembles.
John Van Hamersveld’s “Johnny Face” poster.
Photograph courtesy of John Van Hamersveld.
Crazy World Ain’t It: The Art of John Van Hamersveld
June 5–August 8
From the 1960s to the ’80s, artist and graphic designer John Van Hamersveld created some of the most iconic album covers, including the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, and movie posters of the time. A traveling exhibition, Crazy World Ain’t It: The Art of John Van Hamersveld, runs June 5–August 8 at the Carlsbad Museum, showcasing more than 75 pieces of his work. “John had a very storied career and an inspirational output,” says Jameson Lucas, community historian at the Carlsbad Museum. “It’s a very colorful show. It’s electric and eclectic.”
Read the full interview with Jameson Lucas.
CavernFest ignites summer in downtown Carlsbad with live music, delicious food trucks, and more.
Photograph courtesy of Carlsbad Mainstreet.
CavernFest, Carlsbad
June 12–13
Country music star Easton Corbin headlines the free annual family-oriented music festival.
Currents Art & Technology Festival, Santa Fe
June 12–21
Light installations, video works, and massive artistic projections take over the Santa Fe Railyard.
Santa Fe Spring Festival
June 13–14
Welcome the season at El Rancho de las Golondrinas with live music, sheep shearing, wool dyeing, horno baking, and plenty of fun.
Balloons Over Angel Fire
June 19–21
A rainbow of color floats above Angel Fire at one of the few high-mountain ballooning events in the country.
Building with Adobe “Mud Legos,” Radium Springs
June 20
Get your hands dirty and learn to make your own miniature adobe bricks at Fort Selden Historic Site with Ranger Mike.
Summer Solstice at Chaco Culture National Historical Park
June 21
Arrive early to witness the astrological brilliance of the Ancestral Puebloan people, evident in the alignment’s beam of light that appears around 6:30 a.m. every summer solstice. Pueblo dances and celebrations follow.
Rodeo de Santa Fe
June 24–27
Nearly 500 competitors test their mettle in a rodeo that began in 1949. Don’t miss the mutton bustin’ kids and the rodeo queens.
