Welcome Spring in New Mexico at celebrations, festivals, and events that engage the senses, treat the tastebuds, and make Spring fun.
Heading out of February, enjoy the Santa Fe Annual Film Festival, then catch the Fiery Food Show at the end of the month. In March, exhibitions celebrate Georgia O’Keefe’s fascination for shapes and the big picture visions of land artist Charles Ross. Chocolate, coffee, food trucks and craft beer are on the menu in April, while May delivers SWAIA Native Fashion Week, the Santa Fe Literary Festival, and Taco Wars at the start of New Mexico Cocktail Week.
Special Events in New Mexico: Worth the Detour
A Circle that Nothing Can Break
To 31 October, 2025, Santa Fe
Georgia O’Keefe Museum’s current exhibition explores how the artist imbued shapes, particularly circles, with emotional symbolism and abstract ideas. Appearing in early work, they disappeared in the 1940s but re-appeared in 1970s. Includes works never exhibited during her lifetime. Seasonal guided tours of O’Keefe’s properties begin again in March, 2025.
Santa Fe Annual Film Festival
February 21-23, 2025, Santa Fe
25th Annual. Celebrating the cinematic arts in New Mexico,regionally and globally. Honors all those working on and off the screen with the opportunity for movie lovers to meet industry specialists with film screenings, panels, workshops and events.
Luchita Hurtado: Earth & Sky Interjected
To February 23, 2025, Taos
Born in Venezuela, in 1920, Hurtado devoted almost eighty years of her art to universality and transcendence, exploring abstraction, mysticism, corporality, and landscape with unconventional techniques, materials, and styles.
National Fiery Food & BBQ Show
February 28 to March 2, 2025, Albuquerque
36th Annual: Hot stuff at this annual showcase of over 1000 chile, spicy and sweet-heat products for tasting and buying. Enjoy food samples, cooking and BBQ demonstrations, and professional chef competitions.
Charles Ross: Mansions of the Zodiac
March 15 to September 7, 2025, Taos
Land art inspired by sunlight, starlight, time, and planetary motion. The exhibition opens as Ross nears completion of his earth/sky work, Star Axis, a monumental architectonic sculpture, and naked eye observatory on the eastern plains of New Mexico.
Masterworks of New Mexico
March 21 to April 13, 2025, Albuquerque
27th Annual: Standard and miniature fine art show and sale as well as a program of paint-ins, pastel, acrylic, and watercolor workshops. All New Mexico artists can enter.
Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Festival
April 5-6, 2025, Albuquerque
15th Annual: Billed as the biggest of its kind in the world, with delicious indulgences from more than 200 vendors (including small craft businesses) offering chocolate, coffee, gourmet food with tastings, classes, and barista seminars.
Great New Mexico Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival
April 19, 2025, Albuquerque
9th Annual: Food Truck Festivals of America heads to Albuquerque with food trucks featuring NM home cooking, Asian/Southwestern Fusion food, local craft breweries, world’s largest cotton candy. Also live music and an arts market.
Gathering of Nations Pow Wow
April 24-26, 2025, Albuquerque
More than 3,000 indigenous, Native American, and Indian dancers and singers representing more than 500 tribes from Canada and the United States come to participate annually.
SWAIA Native Fashion Week
May 7-11, 2025, Santa Fe
Showcasing the diverse creative talents of North America’s Indigenous designers as well as artists whose works blur the boundaries between fashion, art, and design.
Albuquerque Turkish Festival
May 4, 2024, Albuquerque
Sample delicious Turkish- Mediterranean cuisine including Baklava, Doner Gyro Kebab, and Turkish Coffee, see whirling dervishes, cultural exhibits, and colorful Turkish arts & crafts.
Santa Fe International Literary Festival
May 16-18, Santa Fe, 2025, Santa Fe
Literary feast at this cultural crossroads, where authors and book-lovers meet to explore the issues of today, as well as escaping into stories. Authors include Michael Cunningham, Percival Everett, Amy Tan, Marie Arana, Heather Cox-Richardson, Viet Than Nguyen.
Taco Wars
May 30, 2025, Santa Fe
10th Annual: Kicking off New Mexico Cocktail Week, chefs serve up their signature tacos at Santa Fe Farmers Market Pavilion, presented by The Liquid Muse.
New Mexico Cocktail Week
May 31 to June 8, 2025, around NM
Starts with Taco Wars, ends with the Burrito Smackdown closing party determining the best burrito and green chile cheeseburger in New Mexico.
————————————————————————————————————–
Full Calendars of Events
(Pair your travel with Albuquerque itineraries from Slow Down See More)
(Pair your travel with Santa Fe itineraries from Slow Down See More)
(Pair your travel with Taos itineraries from Slow Down See More)
