The Albuquerque Biopark is always good for a wild time, but now through Dec. 30 its nightlife lights up, too. The 15th annual River of Lights at the Rio Grande Botanic Garden features light sculptures depicting flora and fauna throughout the grounds at New Mexico’s largest walk-through light show. The live entertainment schedule is here. Gates are open 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. (closed Dec. 24 and 25); adults are $8, seniors and kids $4. For more information, call (505) 764-6200 or click here. You can purchase and print tickets at home here.

It’s been 40 years since the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta began  humbly at the Coronado Mall and has grown to the world-famous event that it is today. Capped at 750 balloons, this spectacular display is one of the few in the world where visitors can walk right up to the balloons, and even help with their launch and recovery. In 2000, 1,000 balloons lifted off for the World’s Record; that number has been dialed back to 750 balloons for safety.

The week-long event takes off Sat. Oct. 1 with a 6:30 a.m. morning glow, followed by a mass ascension of balloons. That evening, at 5:45 p.m. there’s another balloon glow, followed by the launching of America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race. Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 9, see a mass ascension of balloons. Thursday and Friday are reserved for the Special Shapes Rodeo, with a Special Shapes Glodeo scheduled for those evenings at 5:45 p.m., followed by fireworks. Throughout the week balloon pilots compete for prizes and bragging rights with key-grabs, target throws and other games.

Albuquerque is famous as a ballooning capital because of its favorable wind current, called the Albuquerque Box, which allows pilots to lift, travel, descend and return near their take-off point. This, combined with Albuquerque’s clear skies, cool morning temperatures and open spaces, makes it perfect for ballooning here. The AIBF is the most photographed event in the world.

Tickets this year are $8 for adults; children 12 and younger are admitted free to the balloon fiesta. The ticket price includes entry to the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. Vehicle parking is $10.

For a complete schedule of events, click here. For more information, click here.

Take the High Road to Taos this weekend for the 37th annual Taos Fall Arts Festival. The best artists in this world-famous art town share their work and explore ideas, and the public has the opportunity to make purchases at excellent prices. Held at the Taos Convention Center (120 Civic Plaza Drive) through Oct. 2, the annual art show features juried paintings, jewelry, photography and three-dimensional art. Also, the popular Taos Open shows work from artists, whose only criteria is that they have lived in Taos for at least a year and spent 75-percent of their time here. Many new and up-and-coming artists, including youths, are discovered at this showing. The Taos Miniatures is an excellent way to purchase small gems at affordable prices. The center is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free. Click here for more information.

Foodies and oenophiles rejoice, it’s time again for the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Festival, September 23-25. This celebration of all things hot and leggy includes wine seminars, cooking demos, guest chef tours, tastings and even a golf competition. New Mexico is the oldest wine growing region in the United States (those Spanish Friars had to have their sacramental wine in the 1500s), and vineyards cover New Mexico border to border, producing a varied and exciting caliber of grape, given our diverse topography and altitudes. With New Mexico wines bringing home medals from around the world, Santa Fe certainly has something to share and celebrate this season. Events are at venues, restaurants and kitchens across Santa Fe. Log on to http://www.santafewineandchile.org for complete details, tickets and schedules.

It’s a historical mash-up of all things sharp, showy and cool in a broadsword kind of way. Engage in sword fights, pirate battles, damsels in not-so-distress, frog catapulting, belly dancing, jigging to fine music, pretending you’re celtic and more–all while dressed in your medival/celtic/pirate/cyber-punk finery. Vendors will make sure you’ll have a ridiculously large turkey leg to gnaw while you get your mead on. All proceeds benefit Open Hands, a Santa Fe-based charity helping the elderly and disabled.

Adult admission is $8 with free parking, 13-18 is $5, 6-12 $3. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. For more information and directions, click here

Santa Fe Renaissance Fair

Put on your cowboy boots and dig out your corn dog pants, it’s the New Mexico State Fair! Rides, livestock, rodeo, horse racing, cultural music and dance, agricultural and art exhibits–not to mention freakishly large turkey legs and all manner of fried food–will thrill crowds Sept. 9-25. PBR bull riding is Sept. 10, and after-rodeo concerts this year include Craig Morgan, Rodney Atkins, Joe Diffie, Easton Corbin, David Nail and Restless Heart. Admission is $7 adults; $5 kids 6-12; kids 0-5 free and seniors (62+) $5. Parking is $7. The Fair is closed Mondays and Tuesdays this year. Wednesdays are 2 for 1 admission. Opening day admission is $2, regardless of age and time of day. The fair, held at Expo New Mexico, is located at 300 San Pedro NE, Albuquerque NM 87108. Click here for more information.

Venture to the City Different and travel 319 years into to the past to witness the Entrada de Don Diego De Vargas–the Return of Don Diego de Vargas, Sept. 9 at 2 p.m. in Santa Fe’s historic Plaza. The re-enactment commemorates the “bloodless” reconquest of Santa Fe by the Spanish in 1692, after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt forced the Spanish to retreat to El Paso, Texas. The Spanish leader, don Diego de Vargas, promised that if he was able to successfully reclaim Santa Fe for Spain, he would hold an annual mass in Our Lady of Guadalupe’s honor. The Native Americans, tired of raids by other tribes and told that they would enjoy more rights now under the Spanish, agreed to allow the Spanish to return. Every year since then, a reenactment of the entrada is held, and the original statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe is taken from St. Francis Cathedral and paraded through downtown Santa Fe. A proclamation is read, and Native Americans from area pueblos are invited to speak (often getting in a few good-humored digs). Afterward, the crowd enjoys food booths and dancing to live music throughout the weekend. Click here for more information and a complete schedule of events.

Zozobra with firedancer © SteveLarese.com

For the past 21 years, Ray A. Valdez of Santa Fe has created a monster. And not just any monster, but Zozobra, the 50-foot-tall bow tie-clad bogeyman who every September meets a fiery fate as the unofficial start of Fiesta de Santa Fe.
“It’s a marionette, not a puppet,” Valdez explains. “You stick your hand up a puppet.”
With his trademark black ponytail and stylish goatee, the 45-year-old might not look like your typical Dr. Frankenstein. But as event coordinator for the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe fund-raiser, Valdez brings life – and demise – to the creature also known as Old Man Gloom. Valdez and a cadre of dedicated volunteers continue a tradition that celebrates its 87th anniversary this month. In 1924 Artist Will Shuster created Zozobra as a way of bringing some levity to the solemnity of the Fiestas de Santa Fe, an annual religious commemoration of the bloodless reconquest of New Mexico by the Spanish after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Shuster’s secular celebration soon grew into a Santa Fe institution.
“Like every Santa Fe kid I’ve always been crazy about Zozobra,” Valdez says. “I quit a job at McDonald’s in high school one year because I was scheduled to work at the same time as Zozobra. I went in a week later and got my job back.”
Valdez says he remembers his and other Santa Fe families driving their cars right onto the grassy grounds of Fort Marcy Park to watch the festivities. Today, 40,000 people pack onto the field to watch the show that includes live music, dramatic fire dancing and culminates with Zozobra wailing in flames as fireworks stream overhead.
Despite his gloomy reputation, Zozobra actually helps Santa Fe. The event raises $50,000 to $100,000 yearly for local scholarships. In 1964 Shuster turned all Zozobra copyrights over to the Kiwanis Club to use for fund raising.
It was a class trip in the fifth grade that solidified Valdez’s Zozobra infatuation, and also his career path. He was allowed to hold the marionette’s original blueprints, and the drawings sparked a fascination with building. Today, Valdez is a custom home contractor, and he saves scrap lumber from his sites for use in building Zozobra every year.
“Zozobra gave me a career, and now my career helps make Zozobra,” Valdez says.
Valdez became involved with Zozobra in 1990 when a friend invited him to help assemble the huge marionette. People saw that Valdez could read blueprints and was an expert builder. In 1992 he joined the Kiwanis Club, and since 1994 Valdez has overseen the entire production. Valdez became friends with Dr. August (Gus) Denninger, a long-time Kiwanian and friend of Will Shuster. Denninger explained to Valdez that Shuster had made a small wooden model of Zozobra’s frame, and would painstakingly scale it up by measuring a piece of model, then telling the workers how long of a piece of wood to cut.
“This process drove Gus nuts, so he finally decided to draw up blueprints for people to follow,” Valdez says, adding that now he’s using drafting software to perfect Zozobra. “Over the years we’ve found better ways to move the eyes and arms and have strengthened Zozobra to better withstand wind.”
A few years ago strong gust sent Zozobra’s dress billowing like a sail. Valdez leaped to grab the corner of the fabric and took several rides 20 feet off the ground before the crew was able to grab hold of him. “While in the air I was thinking we should have more guy wires.”
Valdez says that he’s privileged to oversee an event that has shared so much history and goodwill with his hometown.
“Before Gus died, I promised him I’d never let Zozobra fade away.”
And Valdez is keeping his word.
This year’s Burning of Zozobra is Thursday, Sept. 8 at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe. Gates open at 3 p.m., burning at dusk. Tickets are $10 advance, $15 at the gate. For more information, click here.