September in Santa Fe

Ask anyone who lives here which month to visit, and most will say September. The summer monsoon has cleared, the nights are cool, the days are warm, and the calendar is full. Here is what happens, roughly in order.

Chile roasting

It starts in late August and runs through September. Roasters go up outside grocery stores and at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market in the Railyard. Buy a sack of green, have it roasted on the spot, and the smell follows you home. Most people bag and freeze enough to last the year.

Fiesta de Santa Fe

Zozobra burns at Fort Marcy Park on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. The following weekend the Plaza fills with the Pet Parade, the Historical/Hysterical Parade, the arts and crafts market, and Mass at the Cathedral. We wrote a separate guide to Fiesta week.

Mariachi at the Lensic

The Lensic Performing Arts Center on West San Francisco Street hosts a mariachi concert during Fiesta week most years. It sells out. The Lensic is a 1931 theater a block off the Plaza and is where most of Santa Fe’s concerts and film screenings happen the rest of the year.

The New Mexico State Fair

Albuquerque, roughly the middle two weeks of September. Rodeo, livestock, carnival rides, and every fried food you can think of. About an hour down I-25 from Santa Fe, or take the Rail Runner from the Railyard station to avoid the parking.

The Santa Fe Renaissance Fair

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, the 200-acre living history museum south of town in La Cienega, hosts the Renaissance Fair in September. The same ranch runs harvest and wine festivals through the fall. It is 15 minutes from the Plaza and a different century once you walk in.

The Wine & Chile Fiesta

Late September. Five days of winemaker dinners, cooking demonstrations, and the Grand Tasting on the field at the Santa Fe Opera. Restaurants across town run special menus.

The aspens

By the last week of September the aspens above town turn gold. Drive up Hyde Park Road past Ten Thousand Waves to the Aspen Vista trailhead, or ride the lift at Ski Santa Fe for the view from the top. From the Northside and Tesuque, you can see the color change on the Sangre de Cristos from your driveway.

And then October

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta starts the first weekend of October, so September tends to run straight into it.

If you are house hunting

September is also one of the better months to look at homes. Sellers who listed in summer are more motivated, the weather is good for walking neighborhoods, and you can see how a house handles cool nights. More on that in why fall can be the best time to buy in Santa Fe.