1 Hit the harvest.
Harvest season is in full swing with three ways to celebrate the bounty this weekend. The Corrales Harvest Festival bustles with events on Saturday and Sunday throughout the village just north of Albuquerque—tractor rides, an arts and crafts market at La Entrada Park, a petting zoo at the Village Mercantile, and festivities at Casa San Ysidro. Find heritage craft demonstrations, live music, Native dances, and roasted corn with red, green, or Christmas chile.
“Corrales is an agricultural community,” says Aaron Gardner, site manager at Casa San Ysidro. “We are celebrating all the hard work it takes to get a harvest, and also our agricultural history.”
In San Lorenzo, near Silver City, the Mimbres Valley Harvest Festival gathers the community for an all-day party Saturday with pie contests, a solar-powered cook-off, and live music. “There is something for everybody and every age,” says Grace Williams, co-chair of the festival. “It is the most fun.”
Shop local produce, from pecans to raspberry jam, vegetables, and flowers. An art fair features more than 20 local makers. Enjoy gospel, Americana, and folk music. Raffle prizes include a cord of firewood, pottery by ceramicist Kate Brown, and gift certificates for Sunday bingo at the Mimbres Roundup Lodge. The enchilada dinner inside San Lorenzo Elementary School is famed for being out-of-this-world delicious.
Apple picking, flamenco dancing, and kids’ crafts are part of Los Luceros Historic Site’s Fall Harvest Festival on Sunday in Alcalde, near Española. The orchard is filled with ripe, heritage apples, and a trail leads to a glorious view of the Río Grande. Live music starts at 10 a.m. and culminates with a performance by Moving Arts Española dancers who specialize in hip hop, flamenco, and ballet. An exhibit titled Following the Manito Trail opens in the Community Room, where speakers will delve into its subject and works at 1:30 p.m. Go to the link and buy a ticket (children are free) before heading out!
2 Travel the world.
One of the best global music festivals in the nation takes over the National Hispanic Cultural Center, in Albuquerque, Thursday through Saturday. ¡Globalquerque! spotlights bands from five continents and countries like Panama, India, Ethiopia, Israel, Mali, Ukraine, Colombia, and Sweden.
“The hippest bands playing in the Southwest this weekend will be on our stages,” says Tom Frouge, founder, producer, and curator of ¡Globalquerque! Some acts who have performed at the festival in the past are returning, like the Ukrainian group DakhaBrahka, who have risen to the highest peaks of fame since their first ¡Globalquerque! performance in 2013. “They just played the Newport Folk Festival,” Frouge says. “They are a big deal in the world-music world. They are as big as you can get.”
The festival includes the Global Village of Craft Culture and Cuisine, where you can taste dishes from around the world and experience music workshops, international dance lessons, film screenings, and hands-on activities. The festival is also highlighting northern New Mexico with weaving and retablo demos, and a guitar concert by Nueva Luna.
3 Dust off your lederhosen.
Downshift Brewing, in Ruidoso, goes all-in for Oktoberfest on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Polka tunes, dance contests, an open-mic jam, a costume contest, and live performances from Doso Dirtbags, Feline Fox, Spivey, The Hamiltons, and others make it an oompah to remember. Dine on German dishes and (of course) imbibe responsibly.
4 Experience Japanese food, art, and culture.
Enjoy sushi, sake, Japanese art, cosplay, cultural exhibits, and an art market at Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) happening Sunday at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial Park in Albuquerque. A tradition hosted by the New Mexico Japanese-American Citizens League for more than 20 years, the festival includes guests and performers from all over the Land of Enchantment demonstrating things like Japanese drumming, songs and poetry, martial arts, and traditional folk dances. A raffle will award the first-place winner with $350.
5 Play act.
Theatrewalk, at Fashion Outlets in Santa Fe, brings local theater troupes together for 12 plays on four stages. Happening Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., the event invites you to drop into this stage, then that one, as the 12 excerpts from musicals, Shakespeare, and original works run simultaneously, then repeat throughout the day.
Joining the party are Teatro Paraguas, New Mexico Actors Lab, Upstart Crows, Santa Fe Playhouse, Julesworks, New Mexico School for the Arts, and others. “We had a Theatrewalk in the spring, and it was so successful that we decided to make it a biannual event,” says Talia Pura, president of the volunteer board at Theatre Santa Fe. “Theatrewalk is a buffet of theater. It’s a smorgasbord where you see the best of Santa Fe, and maybe a company you haven’t seen before.”
Read more: Check out our full calendar of events for more great things to do.