Five Things to Do This Weekend

1 Go to the movies. 

The Silver City Community Film Festival takes over the Silco Theater this weekend, returning after a successful inaugural fest in 2024. “We expanded to make it a regional festival,” says Kim Ryan, festival director. This year’s event will show films from El Paso, Tucson, Albuquerque, and Colorado, alongside a healthy heap of locally made movies. 

A local spotlight kicks things off Thursday with screenings in categories such as documentaries, student films, and shorts. “Silver City is a really artistic community,” says Ryan, “and the Silco Theater is such a treasure. So it made a lot of sense to have a festival here.” Saturday delivers a jam-packed day of screenings that closes with the feature film Duck Rabbit, an indie comedy, at the Silco. It’s followed by a free Guest Fest at Whiskey Creek Zócalo, showing short movies from a fellow film fest in Queens, New York City, the Ridgewood Off-Kilter Festival. See a full schedule and buy tickets at silvercityfilmfest.org.

2 Take off to Balloon Fiesta. 

Get your cameras ready. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta fills the vibrant blue skies over the Duke City with hundreds of colorful and specially shaped hot-air balloons—including the maiden voyage of the Route 66 Centennial balloon—starting on Saturday morning. The event’s 53rd year brings ballooning enthusiasts from around the world to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather, which creates an ideal air pattern for balloons to take off and enjoy a smooth ride along the Río Grande bosque. The event includes live music, food and drink vendors, early morning mass ascensions, evening balloon glows, and plenty of snapshot-ready moments. Find a full schedule and tickets at balloonfiesta.com.

3 Amp up the art.

On Friday at 5 p.m., Hecho a Mano gallery, in Santa Fe, opens its newest show, Sound & Vision, which takes its name from a David Bowie song. Featuring work by 30 artists, the collection contemplates the relationship between music and visual art. The group show is curated by artist, cinematographer, and editor Martha Traer, who has been enthralled by the intersection between these two mediums since she became obsessed with music videos in her childhood. The works in the show span a variety of mediums and come from as far away as England. See it through November 3.

4 Follow the Pecos.

Visit artists in their verdant river valley studios during the Pecos Studio Tour, open Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s a great opportunity to explore an especially beautiful part of northern New Mexico while shopping for one-of-a-kind artworks. Talk to the artists to learn about their processes and inspirations while perusing their creations. The map, which you can find here, includes six stops throughout the valley in Rowe, Pecos, and Glorieta.

5 Celebrate the harvest.

Santa Fe Harvest Festival

With fall in full swing, El Rancho de las Golondrinas, in La Ciénega—where the leaves are changing and the fields are golden—savors the season with the annual Santa Fe Harvest Festival. Open Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., festgoers can choose from activities like ristra-making, picking pumpkins, interacting with docents in historic costumes, shopping artisan vendors, and sipping locally brewed beer and wine.

Aspenfest

Welcome fall in Ruidoso with a parade through Midtown on Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a fun community festival at Wingfield Park. It’s all part of Aspenfest, which has the 2025 theme of Storybook Fall. “It’s family-friendly, there’s great music all day,” says Andrea Joray, director of events at the Ruidoso Valley Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a nice way to kick off fall.” The musical lineup starts with Nova Rush at noon, followed by the Doso Dirtbags, and Dzaki Sukarno. Food trucks include Outlaw Eggroll from Lubbock, Texas; Hole Food donuts, Weiner Wagon corn dogs, and more; sips from several local wineries and breweries are also on offer. Kids can enjoy hands-on games and activities led by the Ruidoso Public Library and get a makeover at free face painting stations.

5th Annual Apple Festival 

Nichols Ranch and Orchards in La Luz throws their 5th annual Apple Festival this weekend. With thousands of apples ripe for picking in the 20-acre orchard, attendees can pick their own fruit and enjoy the farm in the Sacramento Mountains near Cloudcroft, which has been a family homestead since the 1880s. The Apple Festival runs Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Heirloom Acres Corn Maze 

The Corn Maze at Heirloom Acres in Artesia opens this weekend. Visitors can wander the paths in the 10-acre maze, which takes between 30 and 45 minutes to complete—and don’t forget a stop at the pumpkin patch. There’s a shorter route for families with little kids, and after October 4 it’s open Friday through Sunday.

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