Annual Festivals

Taos celebrates the arts -- visual, performing, culinary, musical, literary -- over and over, all year long. Artists, writers and musicians are heroes in Taos. Plan to visit Taos during one of its annual arts festivals. In addition, our various art villages regularly hold art walks and studio tours that give visitors a chance to see art-in-the-making. Click here to learn more about dates and times of Taos Pueblo ceremonials and feast days.

Return to Sacred Places
Throughout 2010
Taos celebrates 'Return to Sacred Places' all year long. Taos' inspiring and rejuvenating qualities have been known for hundreds of years. Visit Taos and experience its many sacred aspects - from simple to grand - on well-traveled roads to the historic Taos Pueblo, along a winding alley to a gallery, in a colorful shrine tucked into an adobe wall, and in the sound of the river as it winds down the canyon. Click here to go to www.taossacredplaces.com for all details and information - and to enter the Win A Vacation to Taos sweepstakes!   

Taos Winter Wine Festival
January
This event combines world class skiing with fine wines and great cuisine. The ten-day event includes seminars, wine tastings, wine dinners hosted by vintners paired with Taos chefs. Two Grand Tastings feature more than 75 different wines from 20 wineries and delectables from a dozen Taos and Taos Ski Valley restaurants. A silent auction of rare wines benefits the New Mexico Nature Conservancy.
505-776-2291 ext. 1427
skitaos.org/WINE_FESTIVAL

Taos Spring Arts Celebration
The entire month of May
This celebration of the visual, performing, and literary arts of Taos consumes the town each spring. There are gallery openings, art walks, concerts, and even the restaurants get into the picture with special wine dinners hosted by local artists. A commemorative poster is published each year to mark the event. Posters and celebration events are available at Taos County Chamber of Commerce.
800-732-8267
575-758-3872
taoschamber.org

Taos School of Music
June through August
Founded in 1963, Taos School of Music is one of the oldest and most respected summer chamber music programs in the country. Its alumni have served as members of such award winning chamber groups as the Alexander, Borromeo, Brentano, Chester, Lark, and Muir quartets, the Eroica Trio, and Musicians from Marlboro. The faculty presents concerts throughout the summer and student concerts can be enjoyed for the unheard of price of $5 per ticket.
575-776-2388
taosschoolofmusic.com

Taos Pueblo Pow Wow
Mid July
Members of Indian tribes throughout the country gather in Taos to compete in traditional dance competitions. Crafts booths and food vendors ring the pow wow circle during the three day event
taospueblopowwow.com

Fiestas de Taos
Late July
The annual Fiestas are so important to the people of Taos, New Mexico that they have four different names -- las Fiestas de Taos, las Fiestas de don Fernando de Taos, las Fiestas de Santiago y Santana and las Fiestas de la Gente. What are Fiestas? They are a tradition passed from generation to generation, a way of preserving the rich tri-culture that has developed in Taos over the last four centuries. It is a culture unique to Taos, encompassing both pueblo and plains Indians, Spanish explorers, conquistadores, French fur trappers and American mountain men.
fiestasdetaos.com

Music from Angel Fire
August and September
International artists including Metropolitan Opera and the Santa Fe Opera Mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, the Miami String Quartet, violinists Ida Kavafian and Ani Kavafian, pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and flutist Tara Helen O'Connor among others gather in the summer in the magnificent mountains of Northern New Mexico for 15 concerts featuring the great works of the Classical, Romantic, Baroque and Contemporary masters.
505.377.3233
888.377.3300
musicfromangelfire.org

Taos Fall Arts Festival
September-October
This festival is the oldest art festival in Taos, starting in 197X. It includes two major art shows – an invitational titled Taos Invites Taos and a juried show called Taos Open. There are museum and gallery openings, a huge arts and crafts fair, and other events and concerts presented by local businesses. Each year a limited edition poster is printed to commemorate the arts festival.

Taos Mountain Film Festival
October
The festival features films of adventure, culture and wildlife from the world's remote regions. Mountain Film also examines threats to the environment and human rights. The three-day festival presents mountaineering films and personalities, as well as symposia, photography exhibits, and readings from mountaineering literature.
575-751-3658    
mountainfilm.net

Taos Storyteller Festival
Late October
A good storyteller can weave a tale that combines a spectrum of emotion and creates an image that returns months and years later. Being engaged with a fine storyteller is a work out for the soul; a bright mode of communication and connection in this quick throw away society. S.O.M.O.S. (Society of the Muse of the Southwest) has created an event that provides just this kind of outlet and opportunity. The two-day event offers an impressive lineup of tellers spinning their weave in concerts, children stories, tales of the weird, and in visits to our locals schools.     
575-758-0081
877-758-7343
somostaos.org

Taos Wool Festival
First weekend in October
Immerse yourself in the more than 400 years of wool tradition as New Mexico, Colorado and Texas  breeders and fiber artists celebrate for Taos Wool Festival.  Join us in Kit Carson Park for two days of family fun ~ a look at traditional and contemporary fiber artistry, an opportunity to get up close and personal with sheep, goats, rabbits, alpacas and llamas, and an invitation for kids to try their hand at a fiber project.
taoswoolfestival.org

Taos Mountain Balloon Rally
End of October
This invitational hot air balloon event features approximately 50 balloonists each year. The two-day event includes mass ascensions at dawn, balloon glows in the evening, a parade and a grand ball.
taosnews.com/fallfestivals/balloon_rally.htm

Taos Chamber Music Festival
November through May
Taos Chamber Music Group presents imaginative and inspirational programming at about a dozen concerts each year. The ensemble is dedicated to sharing with audiences a musical experience that is both intimate and powerful, and one that reflects the unique cultural diversity of its home in Taos. TCMG's repertoire spans the Baroque to the Contemporary, combining classical masterpieces with lesser-known works, including compositions by Latin American, Spanish, Native American, women and jazz composers.
taoschambermusicgroup.org

Yuletide in Taos
Thanksgiving through New Years Day
This community-wide celebration of the holiday traditions of Northern New Mexico includes arts and crafts fairs, the lighting of the farolitos around Taos Plaza and historic district, and ceremonies at Taos Pueblo. Taos Ski Valley celebrates with a beer festival, a torchlight parade and fireworks. Local museums and galleries host holiday exhibitions. Restaurants plan special holiday wine dinners.
taoschamber.com