Press Releases

Santa Fe, NM – Time for the harvest! Every year in late September, Los Luceros Historic Site (LLHS) invites the public to Fall Harvest Festival, a day of apple picking, local food and performances, community building, festivities, and education. The festival will be on September 24 from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

Visitors might think of these activities as nostalgic, but for LLHS and communities throughout the surrounding region, the harvest remains one of the most important times of year. 

Most New Mexico Historic Sites engage with agriculture—it is a significant thread of New Mexico culture and history, after all—but it is core to the identity of Los Luceros. One of the site’s guiding principles, developed in collaboration between New Mexico Historic Sites and community members from multiple cultures, is continuing traditional agricultural practices. In practice, that means LLHS is a working agricultural center, cultivating the site’s historic apple orchard and other crops throughout the year.  

Fall Harvest Festival, then, is a crucial opportunity for the site to give back to its surrounding communities. During this year’s festival, visitors can pick apples, and even try a heritage Red Delicious, which is much sweeter than the store-bought variety. There will also be live music, food trucks, a beer and wine garden, children’s activities, sheep shearing, apple picking, history tours, and live art demonstrations! And of course, the site’s staff have plenty of stories to tell about Los Luceros, the Hacienda, the bosque, the orchard, and the people who have called the land home over the centuries.  

This year, LLHS will also host the first annual Cultures & Creators Arts Festival, in partnership The Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area (NRGNH). The Arts Festival is a special collaboration between the region’s artists, NRGNH, and LLHS. The festival is a celebration of local and regional artists practicing traditional and contemporary forms, and features Joseph Ascensión López, an award-winning Santero, as its first artist in residence. In addition to López, the festival will feature artists from Española, Taos, and Santa Fe. On Saturday, September 23, Cultures & Creators Art Festival will be included in normal admission, which is $7; on Sunday, September 24, the art festival will happen alongside Fall Harvest Festival, which has special event admission at $10. You can learn more about the Cultures & Creators Arts Festival at https://culturesandcreators.com/. 

Visitors can purchase Fall Harvest Festival tickets here.