1 Welcome summer by the river. 

A full weekend of fun flows into Farmington during Riverfest, a festival packed with live music, family-friendly activities, dance performances, river rafting, wiener dog and duck races, a recycled fashion show, arts and crafts vendors, and more. Starting Friday at 5 p.m. at River Reach Terrace, attendees can sip cold drinks from the beer and wine garden while enjoying music from regional favorites Baracutanga and Severo y Grupo Fuego. The event continues all day Saturday and Sunday. “The variety of things people can do make this so much fun,” says D’Ann Waters, president of the River Reach Foundation and chair of Riverfest. “It’s really beautiful along the river, you get to be outside, and there’s something for everyone.” Waters adds that the wiener dog and duck races are always big hits. She suggests taking the complimentary shuttle, which departs from the Farmington Museum every 15 minutes.

See a new exhibition at Santa Fe's Adobe Gallery spotlighting contemporary Hopi art by artists like Milland Lomakema (1941-2021). Photograph courtesy of Adobe Gallery.

2 View Hopi paintings.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Adobe Gallery in Santa Fe opens a new exhibition, Ancestral Symbols, Modern Masterpieces: Documenting the Sacred Narratives and History of the Hopi People with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday. The collection highlights a series of paintings that reflect a more contemporary direction in Hopi art that emerged in the 1970s. The works feature symbols like stars, lines, and circular borders with spiritual significance or offer abstract interpretations of natural phenomena, such as rain. See the exhibition through September 1.

Spend two days in Silver City soaking up live blues, local vendors, cold drinks, and a classic Memorial Day music tradition. Photograph courtesy of Silver City Blues Festival.

3 Have a bluesy weekend.

A longstanding annual tradition for music enthusiasts, the 2026 Silver City Blues Festival brings two days of live music to Baugh Park. This year’s lineup welcomes headliners the Bill Magee Blues Band, from San Diego, and the Joe King Carrasco Band, from Austin, along with other groups from Nashville, Tucson, and New Orleans. Beyond the stage, the free fest includes an arts market, a car show, a food court with regional vendors, and cold drinks in the beer garden. Catch the blues Saturday, 10 a.m.–9:30 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.–6:30 p.m.

Learn how Chinese merchants helped shape Albuquerque's stretch of Route 66 during a free centennial lecture. Photograph courtesy of New Mexico Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series/CC BY-NC 2.0 Thomas Hawk.

4 Hear Route 66 history. 

As part of the 100th anniversary of the Mother Road, the Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series brings historians and community members to venues throughout Albuquerque for free lectures on the fourth Saturday of each month. The May event takes place at the Patrick J. Baca Library, featuring Aimee Tang, who will speak about the Chinese merchants of Route 66—including Fremont’s Fine Foods, a grocery store on Central Avenue in Albuquerque. “Aimee tells a fascinating story of the Chinese experience in the American Southwest,” says Debbie Post, a committee member who curates the speaker series and president of the East Mountain Historical Society. “She makes the great point that it’s a quintessentially American story.”

Tang’s own family history plays into the narrative, and she illustrates the talk with a rich collection of historic photographs and documents, including ads from 1920s newspapers. “Fremont’s was established in 1919, when there was some wealth here in Albuquerque as more railroads and mining prospered,” Post says. “Fremont’s was selling upscale food, they had fresh oysters, and if you think about the logistics of getting fresh oysters here, it’s pretty special. It’s this great story of coming to America and being able to thrive in the vigorous economy of the American Southwest.” Catch Tang’s lecture at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Honor fallen service members at parades and ceremonies happening in Albuquerque, Gallup, and Red River. Photograph by Unsplash/NEONBRAND.

5 Take a moment on Memorial Day.

Memorial Day may usher in summer with a long weekend, but it’s also a time to pause and remember the sacrifice of service members. Across the state, communities are marking the holiday with parades, ceremonies, and tributes. Here are a few ways to pay your respects.

Albuquerque Memorial Day Parade

Commemorate fallen service members at this ceremony and parade at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial Park in Albuquerque on Monday, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Gallup Memorial Day Parade

The town that Rand McNally once called the “most patriotic” in the nation honors fallen service members with a parade on Aztec Street on Monday at 10:30 a.m.

Red River Memorial Day Weekend

Brandenburg Park in downtown Red River serves as the hub of activity throughout the weekend,  with food and arts vendors, a Flag Retiring Ceremony Sunday evening, a Wall of Honor installed at the Conference & Visitor Center, and booths offering free services to veterans.

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