1 Honor a holy tradition.

The pilgrimage to Chimayó, which happens every year during Holy Week, sees more than 30,000 people walk to the northern New Mexico village to visit its legendary church and glean some of the holy dirt that lives at the santuario. A new exhibition at the New Mexico History Museum, Chimayó: A Tradition of Faith, displays images of the pilgrimage by four photographers. In 1996, Sam Howarth, who had made the pilgrimage many times, invited three more photographers—Miguel Gandert, Oscar Lozoya, and Cary Herz—to capture the walk to Chimayó and the people who take it. Chimayó: A Tradition of Faith displays those images alongside oral histories, re-creations of the Santuario de Chimayó’s rooms, and some of the ephemera visitors leave behind. The exhibition opens Saturday and runs through May 31, 2027.

Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Culture National Historical Park is lit by moonlight. Photograph by Wayne Suggs. Photograph by Wayne Suggs.

2 Delve into Pueblo design. 

Attend a reception at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. to celebrate the opening of Restorying Our HeartPlaces: Contemporary Pueblo Architecture. “Heartplace” is an Indigenous term for a community’s center, which was then colonized by Spanish settlers to become a plaza. The exhibition explores Pueblo architecture as a vital piece of ancestral practice. Visitors hear stories from Pueblo architects and the elders who inspired them, in addition to seeing the influence Ancestral Puebloan sites continue to have on contemporary spaces. An example of this exists at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center itself, whose gathering space is built to resemble Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon. A collaboration between the cultural center, the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning, and the Indigenous Design + Planning Institute, speakers for opening events on Friday evening and Saturday from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. include co-curators Ted Jojola and Lynn Paxson as well as Cynthia Chavez Lamar and Duane Blue Spruce. See the exhibition through December 7.
 

Get inspired to make baked vegetarian pecan taquitos with cooking demonstrations at the Las Cruces Pecan Festival. Photograph courtesy of the Las Cruces Pecan Festival.

3 Go nuts.

As the biggest pecan-growing county in America, Doña Ana County enjoys celebrating the flavor and diversity of their staple crop. Cue the Las Cruces Pecan Festival, happening in Young Park on Saturday and Sunday. More than a food festival, the event includes live music from Brandon Taylor, Vic Walker, and Dusty Low, folklórico dancing, a pecan hunt in the style of an Easter egg hunt, food trucks, and a beer garden. It’s a great place to get some culinary inspiration, too, with cooking demonstrations for pecan chicken salad, Thai pecan sauce and salad, and a green chile and pecan appetizer.

Soprano Clara Rottsolk sings with the Santa Fe Pro Musica Baroque ensemble for its Holy Week concerts. Photograph courtesy of Santa Fe Pro Musica.

4 Keep it classical.

Soothe the soul and rejoice in the season with classical music this weekend during Santa Fe Pro Musica’s Baroque Holy Week Concerts. They happen Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe. “We have been presenting Baroque Holy Week concerts since 1994,” says Carol Redman, senior advisor and cofounder of Santa Fe Pro Musica. “Holy Week is a time of introspection, and we provide the community with a concert respecting faith and the human experience.” Santa Fe Pro Musica’s Baroque ensemble and guests like soprano Clara Rottsolk and baroque flutist Kim Pineda perform works by Vivaldi and Telemann, among others. “The focus of this program is the Virgin Mary, which is unusual,” Redman says. In the historic First Presbyterian Church designed by famed architect John Gaw Meem in 1939, the setting fits the music. “It’s a perfect space for an intimate chamber music experience,” Redman adds. Find tickets here or buy them at the door.

Get a jump on Easter with the Bunny Hop at Fort Stanton Historic Site. Photograph courtesy of Fort Stanton Historic Site.

5 Hop into Easter. 

Seize the Easter spirit at Fort Stanton Historic Site near Capitán on Saturday during the Bunny Hop from 1 to 3 p.m. Community partners hand out treats from stations around the site, so make sure the kids bring their Easter baskets. The hunt, which includes games and prizes, is free to enter.

For more things to do, check out our online calendar of events.