Date: October 31, 2009 at 9:00am
Location: The Downs
The Festival will include activities and entertainment for kids of all ages and for adults too. The Fall Festival will feature a costume parade, pumpkin carving and decorating, supervised children’s crafts; mask making and corn husk doll making, gunny sack races, horseshoes, seasonal and regional food vendors, and entertainment by the Zuva Marimba Band, Mariachi Porvenir, Wise Fools, Baile Folklorico de Santa Fe and Sol Fire.
A major feature of the Festival will be the first-ever Saturday presentation of The Santa Fe Traditional Flea Market, in conjunction with a regional Grower’s Market offering fall produce. The Santa Fe Traditional Flea Market was launched in July on the Plaza at Oshara Village and now regularly includes more than 100 vendors from around Northern New Mexico.
Fall Festival events will take place on the large paved “valet parking area†to the west of the Grandstand, at the same time as the final Saturday of the Northern New Mexico Soccer Association youth matches on the Downs Infield.
Festival Events kick-off Saturday morning at 9:00 AM when the Flea and Growers Markets open and food vendors offer breakfast fare. Musical entertainment launches at 11:00 am and family and kids activities will also begin at 11 am. The Markets will run through 3:00 pm, with Festival entertainment, events and vending wrapping up at 4:00 pm.
Financial and logistical support to create this first La Cienega Fall Festival at the Downs is provided by ther La Cienega Valley Association, Santa Fe County Commissioner Mike Anaya and the Santa Fe County Commission, Santa Fe County Arts, Culture and Entertainment Task Force, the McCune Foundation, the Pueblo of Pojoaque, Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, the Santa Fe Thrifty Nickel, and the Santa Fe Traditional Flea Market.
Public and private community partners and The La Cienega Valley Association (LCVA) will produce the first annual La Cienega Fall Festival at the Santa Fe Downs (the former Racetrack, just one mile from NM599 on the I-25 West Frontage Road),on Halloween, Saturday, October 31st, 2009, with events from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, LCVA President, Carl Dickens, announced today. Almost all activities, including parking, are free, and the general public is invited.
The First Annual La Cienega Fall Festival is a collaborative project of the LCVA, the Santa Fe County Arts, Culture and Entertainment (ACE) Task Force, the Pueblo of Pojoaque (owner of the Downs), Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, the Santa Fe Thrifty Nickel, and the Santa Fe Traditional Flea Market. This project is the result of ongoing efforts to address underlying infrastructure and organizational issues related to local community and economic development in the region. Santa Fe County and the ACE Task Force have been working with LCVA and other community members actively to apply principles of community partnerships, leadership and continuing communication processes to invite feedback.