Above: Duke City Pedaler's Party bike makes New Mexico Brew Fest a movable feat.

SOUTHERN CULTURE
The Southern New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo, September 27–October 1 in Las Cruces, delivers thrills, chills, squeals, and shivers. If the barrel racing and bull riding don’t leave your heart pounding, check out the pig races (grand prize: Oreo cookies) or the live snakes and alligators from Danny Conner’s Reptile Adventures. Stay into the evening for music by Las Cruces native Tell Runyan and others. (575) 524-8602; snmstatefairgrounds.net

CROWNING GLORY
Tribal members gather in Shiprock from all over the Four Corners area to celebrate another successful harvest at the Northern Navajo Nation Fair, October 5–8. Put the Saturday parade on your bucket list. Stick around for the rodeo, dances, crafts, blue-ribbon vegetables, Native food vendors, and the crowning of Miss Northern Navajo. (505) 368-4305; nnnfair2016.com

SITE UNSEEN
The pioneering contemporary art space SITE Santa Fe unveils its renovated building (in what was once a beer distribution warehouse) with the exhibition Future Shock, which opens October 6. The expanded space gives SITE a high-tech auditorium for lectures and screenings, plus a coffee shop, hangout space, and the 1,800-square-foot SITElab gallery, which will house short-term experimental work. Bonus: Climate control improvements mean SITE can bring more traveling exhibitions to Santa Fe. (505) 989-1199; sitesantafe.org

WARM FUZZIES
Trace the route of wool from sheep to shawl at the Taos Wool Festival, October 7–8. You’ll find more than just sheep at Kit Carson Park—alpacas, goats, and Angora rabbits, plus demonstrations of how to shear, spin, and dye. Purchase yarn, sweaters, shawls, looms, and more. Check out the workshops before and during the festival. taoswoolfestival.org

LET’S GO NUTS
Chile may get all the attention, but pecans are New Mexico’s biggest (and crunchiest) cash crop. The Old Mesilla Plaza hosts the New Mexico Pecan Festival October 21–22, with carnival rides, pecan-related games, vendors, cooking demonstrations, tastings, and a pecan dessert contest. (575) 524-3262; newmexicopecanfestival.com

ART MOVEMENT
Tour more than 34 artist studios in the Chama River Valley, a longtime home to Native peoples and a magnetic center for artists, during the Abiquiú Studio Tour, October 7–9. Artists draw inspiration from the landscape, Hispanic culture, and Native arts. abiquiustudiotour.org

Follow the Trail of the Ancients Scenic Byway (aka NM 53) from Grants toward Zuni Pueblo for two weekends of food, art, and culture. The Ramah Farmers’ Market Fall Festival, October 7, sets up just east of El Morro National Monument, with a tractor parade, barbecue, an arts market, traditional dances, and awards for the biggest and best harvest produce. Zuni Pueblo hosts the Ancient Way Fall Festival, October 14, with a Native arts market, traditional music, dances, and demonstrations of art and horno bread baking. (505) 782-7238; zunitourism.com

EYE CANDY
The world descends on Albuquerque October 7–15 for the 46th annual International Balloon Fiesta. Grab your cameras and be there early for opening day, which starts with a laser light show, followed by the liftoff and performance of Dawn Patrol balloons. This year, for the first time, a select few pilots will set up their baskets and fire their burners all at once, sans balloons, for a stunning “candlestick” display.

“It’s kind of like saying, ‘Gentlemen, start your engines’ before a race,” says spokesman Tom Garrity. Which leads, naturally, to the 7 a.m. Mass Ascension of up to 500 balloons. Power up with one of the event’s trademark breakfast burritos. (505) 821-1000; balloonfiesta.com

If your visual desires aren’t sated in the fiesta’s artisan tent, you can hop over to the nearby Sandia Casino and Resort to see a football field’s worth at the Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival, October 6–8 and 13–15. The juried show features world-class work by more than 200 artists. (505) 292-7457; riograndefestivals.com

I SEE BY YOUR OUTFIT
Dust off your best dancing boots for the Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium in Ruidoso, October 13–15, which rounds up music from Asleep at the Wheel, Red Steagall, Bri Bagwell, Tracy Bird, and Mickey Gilley. Sample the chuckwagon’s biscuits and gravy, then see how your favorites fare in the cooking competition. Load up on saddles, tack, hats, boots, jewelry, and art. Marvel at mounted shooting competitions. Entertain the kids with stick-horse barrel racing. This year, Fort Stanton Historic Site brings living history demonstrations. (575) 378-4431; cowboysymposium.org

CZECH THIS SAUSAGE OUT
Explore the heritage of Czechoslovakian communities in southern New Mexico at the 89th annual Klobase Festival and Barbecue in Deming, October 15. The Luna County Courthouse Park swells with hungry visitors eager to try the klobase (smoked sausage), brisket, and other Czech-American treats. The food is served at 11 a.m., but the event goes on all day. (575) 546-9783

JAZZ THINGS UP
The five-day Roswell Jazz Festival starts October 18 with the New Breed Brass Band, at the Liberty Social Club, and concludes with jazz worship at the First United Methodist Church on October 22. In between, other musicians, including acclaimed clarinetist Allan Vaché, rock the house. (505) 359-4876; roswelljazz.org

EXPLORE AN ENIGMA
Coronado Historic Site honors Native, Hispanic, and Anglo roots with a Fiesta of Cultures, October 21 in Bernalillo. Educational booths and archaeological demos pay homage to those cultures, while a new exhibit, An Enigma Named Esteban, honors one of the first non-Native explorers in the area, a former slave from North Africa who trekked through the Southwest in the 1500s. (505) 867-5351; nmhistoricsites.org/coronado

OPEN THE TAP
Dust off the lederhosen, bite into brats, and tip back a stein. The Bavarian season opens with the Red River Oktoberfest, October 6–8, filling Bradenburg Park with oompahs, Miss and Mr. Oktoberfest, and yodelers. The best part? Plates piled with German food and mugs full of cold beer. (575) 754-2366; nmmag.us/RROktoberfest

Socorro’s Hammel Museum started as a brewery and served turns as an ice plant and soda-bottling plant. On October 7, it goes back to its roots with Oktoberfest. Drink beer, eat a green chile brat, and tour the old brewery (575-835-3183; socorronm.org/events/oktoberfest). Add a side of art at Little Toad Creek’s Oktoaderfest Street Fair in Silver City, October 15 (575-956-6144; littletoadcreek.com), in conjunction with the Red Dot ArtFest & Studio Tour, October 7–9 and 13–15, which includes a fashion show of recycled/upcycled designs and studio tours. silvercityart.com

After all that practice, you’re ready for Ruidoso Oktoberfest, October 20–21, which includes a mouthwatering menu of bratwurst, soft pretzels, and Black Forest cake. Wash them down with German beer and wine while listening to Austrian music. (575) 257-6171; oktoberfestruidoso.com

Need more beer? The eighth annual New Mexico Brew Fest, October 14 at the Expo New Mexico in Albuquerque, gathers some 20 breweries, including Santa Fe Brewing, La Cumbre, Bosque, and Boxing Bear. Enjoy a sample or a pint, play giant-scale versions of Jenga and beer pong, or catch one of the bands. (505) 362-4848; nmbrewfest.com

AFTERLIFE OF THE PARTY
Drag yourself to Las Cruces and shuffle down Main Street with the rest of the undead participants in the Zombie Walk, October 21. Hordes of costumed zombies lumber into the plaza, then shake off the torpor with a dance. Pick up zombie artwork, T-shirts, and jewelry at the craft market. (575) 525-1955; downtownlascruces.org

Take the kids to Zoo Boo at the Albuquerque BioPark, October 28. Trick or treat around the exhibits, visit the animals, and play carnival games. (505) 768-2000; nmmag.us/ZooBoo17

Spin out with the Day of the Tread, a Halloween-themed family bike ride, October 29. Start in Albuquerque on routes that stretch from 9 to 100 miles. Expect to pedal alongside superheroes, skeletons, goblins, and witches. dayofthetread.com

New Mexicans increasingly embrace the Day of the Dead, especially in historic Mesilla, where one of the state’s most robust Día de los Muertos celebrations takes place October 28–29. Walk with a candlelight procession from the plaza to the cemetery and witness the smashing of a giant piñata. (575) 524-3262; nmmag.us/MesillaDOD

Festivities spill into November with the Muertos y Marigolds Parade, in Albuquerque’s South Valley, November 5. The theme for this year’s parade is “Try to Bury Us,” and the floats will certainly be decorated traditionally with tons of marigolds. muertosymarigolds.org