New Mexico's fall season is here, filled with unique festivals and cultural activities that can only be discovered in the Land of Enchantment. As Secretary of the New Mexico Tourism Department, I welcome you to New Mexico, a place like no other.
Michael Cerletti
More than 200 balloons from across the country will take to the skies December 4-6, 2009 for the 29th annual Red Rock Balloon Rally near Gallup
Frequently described as a balloonis's paradise, a highly prized invitation to this event - the second largest balloon event in the world - offers pilots the opportunity to compete for fine Native American arts and crafts.
The Red Rocks are the cemented sands of a fossilized beach, colored by dissolved iron seeping down from more recent volcanic activity, worn smooth by Anasazi residents who carved hand and toe holds in the walls to reach the mesa tops. This is the only ballooning event where spectators are encouraged to become active participants by joining balloon chase crews.
The city of Truth or Consequences - known by many names over the years, including Hot Springs (changed to Truth or Consequences in honor of the popular radio program by the same name) will commemorate the event with its first ever Hot Springs Festival November 14, 2009, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
The street fair in downtown T or C on Broadway and Foch Streets will include live music, chalk art by Sierra County Elementary School students, arts and food vendors, a birthday party for the community and recognition of residents ages 95 years and older, a beer garden, hot springs tours, a historic photo display at the Geronimo Springs Museum and performances of the play "Change and Change Again" by the T or C Community Theater at the Senior Recreation Center.
The new IMAX film "Molecules to the Max," is currently showing at the Clyde W. Tombaugh IMAX Dome Theater at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo.
Produced by Nanotoon, developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and made possible through a grant from the National Science Foundation, this animated film takes the audience deep into the innermost workings of the cosmos through the adventures of a round eyed oxygen atom named Oxy and her two oxygen atom friends, Hydro and Hydra. These atomic musketeers explore inside places no one has ever been like snowflakes, chewing gum, pennies and the human cell. The straight man to the trio is, naturally, the on-board computer of their incredible ship the Molecularium.
Officials from the New Mexico Spaceport Authority will begin offering paid public hardhat tours of the Spaceport America construction site beginning December 2009.
The tours will highlight New Mexico history from Spanish conquistadors to pioneer rocket research and the new commercial space industry. Tour participants will receive an on-site tour of the construction site including the runway and vertical launch facility.
Move over fall, winter is coming. New Mexico's ski season is nearly here, and excitement is in the air. High altitudes, coupled with New Mexico's light, fluffy snow and brilliant sunshine, create some of the finest ski conditions in the West. There is no reason to spend an extra five or six tiring hours in the car heading further north and standing in long lift lines when you get there when you could already be on the slopes of New Mexico’s incredible ski areas. Make your reservations now for some super New Mexico skiing this season. Come "Ski & Ride the Winter Sun."
The fourth annual Santa Fe Indian Market Winter Showcase - featuring more than 100 of the nation's top Native American artists- is November 27-29, 2009 at the Santa Fe Convention Center.
The event is sponsored by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), the non-profit organization that produces the Santa Fe Indian Market every August, also in Santa Fe.
The 42nd annual High Rolls Apple Festival - offering apples and apple cider, arts and crafts, and fun for the entire family - is november 17-18, 2009 in High Rolls, located in Otero County near the Sacramento Mountains in Southeastern New Mexico.
The Festival takes place at the High Rolls Community Center, just east of the U.S. 82 tunnel. The hours are 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. november 17 and 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. november 18. Admission and parking are free.
It is sponsored by the Lions Club of High Rolls/Mountain Park, New Mexico, a non-profit organization that helps the community by raising money and then returning it to those in need. Over 95% of the festival profits go to local, state, national and international charitable causes.
The dark river, usually illuminated by only the stars and moon, reflects each December what has become one of New Mexico's grandest holiday light shows, Christmas on the Pecos in Carlsbad.
Bundled up against the winter chill, you stare in fascination as your boat flows through at the fairyland of twinkling lights created by more than 100 Pecos River homeowners and corporate sponsors who spend hours creatively decorating backyards and boat docks with millions of lights.
Academy-Award®-winning Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat, entertainers of the young and the young at heart for more than 60 years, will take to the southern California skies aboard one of the Land of Enchantment's most iconic images when New Mexico's float – "Enchantment is in the Air" - travels Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, California January 1 in the 2010 Tournament of Roses® Parade.
The float design was unveiled October 29 at a reception at the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum - a fitting location considering New Mexico is America's premier ballooning capital; and Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat were created by the late cartoonist Chuck Jones. Even with his passing, Chuck's ties to New Mexico remain strong - one of the three Chuck Jones Galleries is located near the Santa Fe Plaza.
Beginning November 19, 2009, American Eagle will offer nonstop service once a day between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. This new service is in addition to the two daily nonstop flights between Santa Fe and Dallas/Fort Worth..
Flight # 3157 departs Santa Fe at 2:45 p.m. and arrives at LAX at 3:55 p.m.
Flight # 3156 departs LAX at 12:20 p.m. and arrives in Santa Fe at 3:15 p.m.
You can travel to/from cities around the country or around the world via Los Angeles or Dallas/Fort Worth, as together, American, American Eagle and AmericanConnection® serve more than 250 cities in 40 countries.Visit www.aa.com
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November 2009 Events
15 Mixed Nuts Arts & Crafts Show, Rodeo – hidalgocounty.org
17-22 Festival of the Cranes, Socorro – friendsofthebosque.org
27 Lighting of State Christmas Tree in Santa Fe
President’s Day Observed
27-30 Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Holiday Show – www.riograndefestival.com
December 2009 Events
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Train Rides, Chama – cumbrestoltec.com
Christmas in Madrid, 12/6-7, 13-14 and 20-21 – visitmadridnm.com
4 Trails of Lights – Las Cruces – 575-541-2288
4–6 WinterFest, Los Alamos – 505-661-4844
5 Jolly Holidays & Fine Crafts Show, Corrales – corrales-mainstreet.org
5-6 Christmas in the Foothills, Hillsboro – hillsboronm.com
Salmon Ruins Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair – 800-448-1240
12 Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day, Pojoaque Pueblo – indianpueblo.org
Riverglow, Farmington – 800-448-1240
Floating Lights Parade, Elephant Butte – elephantchamberofcommerce.com
Navajo Nativity, Farmington – 800-448-1240
20 New Mexico Bowl, Albuquerque – newmexicobowl.com
Farolito/Luminaria Tours, Santa Fe & Albuquerque – newmexico.org
Lighting of Luminaria, Carrizozo – townofcarrizzo.org
Christmas Carols & Luminarias, Old Mesilla – 575-524-3262
24-28 Dances at various pueblos – indianpueblo.org
28-29 Santa Fe Spanish Market – www.spanishcolonial.org
31 New Year’s Eve Dances at various pueblos – indianpueblo.org
Torchlight Parades at various ski areas – skinewmexico.com