SEPTEMBER 19–20
ALL OVER THE MAP
Tickets to see the world can whack a checkbook, so it’s nice when the world comes to you. Marking its tenth year, the ¡Globalquerque! festival is staging an eclectic soundscape of world music (or “world-class music,” as co-founder Tom Frouge prefers to call it), from Malian guitarist Oumar Konaté’s desert blues riffs to Golem, a rambunctious klezmer-rock band out of New York. The Global Village will be dishing out international cuisine all weekend, and you’ll want to wrap up your crafts shopping in time to catch Friday night performers Calypso Rose and Kobo Town (whose bandleader, Drew Gonsalves, is pictured at left), and the Afro-Cuban All Stars. “Bring your dancing shoes,” Frouge advises, “whether you dance salsa or not.” globalquerque.org
AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 1, 7, 27
HEAVEN ON WHEELS
Those quads you bicyclists spent all summer getting in shape are in for a workout this month. On Labor Day weekend, Angel Fire Resort rolls out the Gravity Games & Brewfest, where family-friendly mountain biking competitions meet grown-up carb replenishment from the likes of Santa Fe Brewing Company (800-633-7463; angelfirebikepark.com). For road warriors, there’s the Enchanted Circle Century Tour on September 7, which starts in Red River and climbs to 9,820 feet at Bobcat Pass before making its winding descent (575-754-2366; redriverenchantedcirclecenturytour.com). The High Desert Screamer, September 27 in Gallup, boasts “wickedly fast and flowing” hard-packed mesa trails, though switchbacks and loose corners will make you work for the views. squashblossomclassic.com
SEPTEMBER 2, 4, 8, 14–15, 19, 25, 29–30
COME ONE, COME ALL
Giving thanks around harvest season can be a full-time gig. September’s feast days, festive blends of Native and Catholic traditions, kick off with a dance in honor of San Estevan at Acoma Pueblo on September 2, but don’t tarry, because on September 4, Isleta Pueblo caps an afternoon of choir-and-drum corn dances in traditional dress with steaming meals of chile, chicken, and rice. Laguna Pueblo holds three celebrations this month: September 8 at Encinal; September 19 at Old Laguna Village, where the dance is followed by a carnival; and September 25 at Paguate. To vicariously work off all that feasting, watch the Ollero and Llanero Apache go toe-to-toe in relay races at Stone Lake September 14–15, then shimmy up to Taos Pueblo on September 29–30, where San Geronimo Day includes a pole-climbing ritual. Read more about feast days in August’s “Tasting NM” (p. 53, mynm.us/0814tasting). newmexico.org/feast-days
SEPTEMBER 12–14
MAIN SQUEEZE
When Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys take the stage to close out Pickamania!, Cajun accordion will have the Silver City crowd dancing the bayou boogie on every inch of Gough Park not staked out by blankets and lawn chairs. It’s further proof of how far this festival’s come from its roots as a banjo show on a rural garlic farm—but don’t worry, acts like Higher Ground Bluegrass are on hand to carry the traditionalist torch. After Grammy nominee Sarah Jarosz’s star turn on Saturday evening, thirsty folkies can mosey over to the beer garden, where Steep Ravine will pick the night away on guitar, mandolin, and strings. (575) 538-2505; mimbresarts.org/6th-annual-pickamania
SEPTEMBER 13
PIE HEAVEN
“I think the word is out—Pie Town is no longer a best-kept secret,” proclaims Pie-O-Neer café owner Kathy Knapp, and to judge by the 2,000 or so sweet-toothed souls who head out U.S. 60 each year for this pastry pit stop’s annual Pie Festival, she may have a point. Many camp out Friday night in the middle of town, the better to be there early for a Saturday stuffed with activities, from a horned toad race for the kids to the crowning and aproning of a Pie Queen. Plus, oh yeah, people bake and eat a lot of pie. The favorite filling? “Apple,” Knapp says. “Just good old apple pie.” (575) 772-2528; pietowncouncil.com/pie_festival
SEPTEMBER 13–14
MAKING GOOD
There are dreamers and there are doers. Makers, it’s fair to say, are both; they’re into hacking, rethinking, dismantling, or simply inventing cool contraptions from scratch. “It’s a lot of fun to control a machine,” says Christian Ristow, whose 12-foot animatronic sculpture Face Forward will be among the interactive exhibits at Albuquerque’s Mini Maker Faire. His fellow makers include “anyone who is embracing the do-it-yourself (or do-it-together) spirit,” according to organizers. The Albuquerque Balloon Museum grounds get their share of solar exposure, so don’t forget to wear your thinking cap. albuquerque-minimakerfaire.com
SEPTEMBER 19–20
HOT PURSUIT
Ballooning’s secret thrill lies in the chase: not floating above the desert but careening around below, trying to keep up in shifting winds. “It’s a blast, chasing—it’s actually addicting,” says White Sands Balloon Invitational organizer Joyce Obrecht, who invites earthbound attendees to show up Friday evening to volunteer for a crew (575-437-6120; mynm.us/wsballooninvite). After Saturday night’s balloon glow, drift on over to Alameda Park on Sunday to catch day two of the Tularosa Basin Wine & Music Festival. (575) 522-1232; tularosabasinwinefest.com
SEPTEMBER 20
THE AX GAMES
Timber scouts were the first non-Native people who saw—and sawed—the spot that would become Cloudcroft, and the town’s love affair with lumber has never let up. This year marks the 20th annual Lumberjack Day, a chance for both jacks and jills to show off their skills with axes, chain saws, and chokers. You might want to stand back for favorite events like the ax throw and hot saw, but when the sawdust settles, you’ll see Lincoln National Forest’s evergreen ridges in a new light. (575) 682-2733; coolcloudcroft.com
EXHIBITIONS
This year, for its 40th anniversary, the Taos Fall Arts Festival (Sept. 26–Oct. 5, taosfallarts.com) returns to its roots, with various locations all in easy walking distance. Among the offerings: film, public installations, arts and crafts, and music, and The Paseo, a multimedia outdoor art event that presents contemporary art, from performance to light to projected mediums, by artists from across the state. On your way up to Taos, leave time for the High Road Artisans Art Tour (Sept. 21–22 and 27–28, highroadnewmexico.com). Also in Taos this month: the Millicent Rogers Museum’s Fred Harvey and the Making of the American West, with a special Harvey-themed luncheon Sept. 6. Dennis June, guest curator of the jewelry portion of the exhibition, will speak on the Harvey legacy. (575) 758-2462; millicentrogers.org
In Santa Fe, the third annual AHA (After Hours Alliance) Festival of Progressive Arts visits the Railyard Arts District Sept. 14. Rather than the expected series of booths displaying work, emerging and unconventional artists turn their booths into often experiential mini-installations. A flurry of events and scenesters—both participants and onlookers—mingle outdoors during the packed Sunday festival. As art shows go, it’s young, fresh, and a bit disorienting. Look for such things as art made using live birds, avant-garde face painting, and generic boxes of groceries for sale in an exhibition booth. There’s lots of live music too, and plenty for the kids to love. ahafestival.com
The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts presents Shedding Skin, a free two-day symposium (Sept. 20–21) and “live paint event.” Artist Yatika Starr Fields will paint in public, interacting with the audience in a manner that merges painting with performance art and graffiti. iaia.edu/museum
The fine curatorial team at Albuquerque’s 516 Arts has pulled together another must-see: Son of Pop opens Sept. 27, a solo exhibition of works by Floyd D. Tunson. In a time-honored tradition (see Robert Rauschenberg, for example, and plenty of folk artists) of using whatever is at hand for art-making, Tunson’s work ticks all the categories: installation, drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography. His images and palette are raw and exciting, combining pop, folk, and traditional sensibilities. 516arts.org
—Kathryn M Davis