When you visit the festival, you’ll quickly discover all kinds of vendors that offer food, arts, crafts, and even live music. It’s about having a good time and maybe heading home with a brand new accessory for your home, as well as a new favorite bottle of wine. Stroll through the streets and enjoy the fun atmosphere all though Memorial Day weekend.

The festival is hosted by the New Mexico Wine Growers Association (NMWGA). If you are interested in seeing all of the different vendors and their wares, as well as food, then you’ll find everyone at Balloon Fiesta Park. This is an annual event that locals love and visitors can have a great time enjoying and learning about, too.

Entrance to the festival requires a photo ID from all adults, as well as a $20 entrance fee for anyone 21 and over. However, that doesn’t mean only adults can enjoy the Wine Festival. Anyone under the age of 21 can also attend, and there is no entrance fee. But all those under 21 must be accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian.

Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games are coming once again to the city for a few days of excitement and cultural celebrations of all things Celtic. This year will see the festival come to Albuquerque for the 25^th time.  Every year, it becomes more and more popular as people delight in the activities, music, dance, and much more!

There will be plenty to see and do during the Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games. You will be able to watch traditional dances performed by various groups, as well as listen to music that features instruments such as the harp and war pipes. People will recite poetry, speakers will tell of Celtic history, as well as how people of Celtic heritage have found their way to New Mexico and the city, and you will even be able to hear some speak in the Celtic language and tell stories that have been handed down generation after generation.

The Highland Games will showcase a variety of different games typically played across the globe in the home country. Watch the tough game of rugby, cheer on your favorite participant in hurling, and discover how Gaelic football is played. There will also be dog demonstrations and showing of Celtic dog breeds.

Head over to Balloon Fiesta Park and choose whether or not to purchase a single- or two-day pass. Tickets for adults are $15 for one day, $20 for two. Children’s passes are $7 for one day, $10 for two. For senior citizens and active military personnel, a single day pass is $10 and $15 for two.

Along the way, you can expect to get plenty of water. Keeping hydrated is important in this hot and dry climate, and the run can be quite difficult for some. Practicing ahead of time will help you tackle the 1,000 feet climb, as will a great pair of shoes. Being prepared is important for any run – especially this one!

Registration for the race is $32-$35. After May 15, the price will go up by another $5. Race day registration is accepted, and the fee then will be $45. The race will begin at 7am, so be ready to go early in the morning! This year, the monetary benefits will go toward The Storehouse, which is a local food bank in downtown Albuquerque. Food, clothes, and gently used shoes will also be collected during the event, so if you have any extras, bring them if you can.

Go old school with the Steve Miller Band on May 17^th. Created in 1967, the Steve Miller Band is well-known for songs such as “The Joker,” and “Fly Like an Eagle.” Classic rock at its finest, a visit to the Route 66 Casino will give you the chance to listen to them live.

If you’ve ever wanted to party with the princes of darkness, then now is the perfect time. The Masters of Madness: Shock Therapy Tour is coming to AlbuquerqueJune 1^st where you can rock out to the music and madness of Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson. The Isleta Amphitheater will host the concert, and it is the perfect place for falling into hard hitting music like only Cooper and Manson can deliver.

Hoping to hear something a little more country-style? The Isleta Amphitheater will host Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley. They’ll have plenty of songs for you to sing along with, as well as some slower, sweeter melodies that fans always love to hear. If this sounds like a good time, be sure to get your tickets soon as the concert will take place May 17^th.

Herbfest is hosted by Friends of theRio GrandeNatureCenter. They are a nonprofit organization with the goal of protecting theRio Grandearea. They educate the public about the ecosystems as well as show people how to interact with them in a positive manner. From classes to guided walks to educational activities, they do everything possible to inform people about the importance of the area.

Herbfest is an excellent way to get people out to theRio Grandearea and see the different herbs that they may or may not be familiar with. You can purchase herbs to use in your own kitchen if you like, or you can peruse the crafts and various arts to see if there are any handmade goodies you’d like to take home with you. Bring the whole family for guided walks and garden tours where you can learn about both the flora and fauna of theRio Grande’s ecosystems. There will also be music, raffles, and crafts that kids can make and take home with them.

Over two days, Herbfest will also feature speakers such as New Mexico State Biologist Tess Grasswitz, George Miller and Tom Stewart of the New Mexico Native Plant Society, Landscape Designer Judith Philips, and Wes Brittenham of Plants of the Southwest. From creating a wildlife habitat to discoveringNew Mexico’s beneficial or native plants, there’s a little something for everyone.

If you are looking to attend Herbfest 2013 in Albuquerque, and are still looking for a place to stay this weekend, make sure to check out our “green” hotel rooms. Hotel Andaluz is the first historic hotel in the southwest to be Leed Gold Certified as well as being a AAA Four Diamond award winning hotel.

The city loves the attention as much as we love a good pint after a warm sunny day. We are lucky to have our pick of several micro-breweries in the area, some just a few blocks (what’s up Marble?) from our downtown Albuquerque hotel.  The great part about this is we at the Hotel Andaluz get to keep our emphasis on local, by featuring local brews in our rooftop terrace, Ibiza and our lobby bar.

We are even more stoked when we get to celebrate ABQ Beer Week with our fellow bars and restaurants. ABQ Beer Week is a week full of events from beer tastings, brewery tours, tap takeovers and our event Taps & Apps on Tuesday, April 30th. We’ve invited four local breweries (Marble, Il Vicino, La Cumbre & Bosque Brewing) and paired their best brew with our tantalizing appetizers. This happy hour-style event is going to rock, and you don’t want to be left out. Make your reservations with Lauren right now 505.923.9013.

Cheers boys and girls to Albuquerque and ABQ Beer Week! Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates on all event at the Hotel Andaluz. We hope to see you real soon…

New Mexico’s population is largely Hispanic, and this is a contributing reason as to why New Mexico holiday season is a celebration. Perhaps the most notable sign that the holidays are approaching is the luminaria or farjalito, a small candle set inside a paper bag with sand. As Christmas approaches thousands line the streets, staircases, walkways, fences and even roofs. Visitors can best view these luminarias at Albuquerque’s historic old town or Santa Fe and Taos’ historic plaza’s. Our facebook friend Bill, mentions the small Acoma pueblo, known as Sky City as another beautiful area lit up by luminarias for Christmas Eve. On Taos’ and Santa Fe’s plazas there is often carolers and cider to celebrate the lightings.

If the soft glowing lights of our farolito doesn’t quite lure in you in. Try checking out our local ski areas that transform into a family gathering spots to enjoy sun and snow for the holiday season. Facebook friend Marie mentions the Taos Ski Valley’s torch light parade. Every year on Christmas Eve, Taos Ski Valley comes alive with a parade of skiers carrying torches ski down from the top of the mountain to the base at dusk. When all the torches make it down the run the valley is lit up by a fireworks display rivaling major city celebrations. It brings the whole mountain of skiers and lodgers together in cheers.

Another Christmas Eve tradition in Taos or the surrounding pueblos is the traditional Native American dances that occur on Christmas Eve through Christmas morning. Large bon-fires warm spectators as dances of prayer and celebration are performed. After the different events take place the feasts begin around the state. Traditional New Mexican Christmas meals consist of tamales, red chili, posole (hominy), beans and our state cookie, the biscochito (sugar cookies baked with anice, licorice spice).

Christmas in New Mexico is focused on traditions. We like to think that our style of holiday is a small getaway from the Christmas seasons that held at hostage by the department stores. How do you spend the holiday? Will you be traveling to New Mexico? Tell us your plans this season…

A fan and staff favorite around here is our Pumpkin Cheesecake Puff Pastry and Chef Andrew was kind enough to share the recipe. So if you’re looking for a last minute dessert to make for your holiday celebrations, this is a yummy twist in case your pumpkin pie is getting a little tiresome.

The following makes 16 Pumpkin Cheesecake Puff Pastries.

Combine the following in a small bowl:
• 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
• ¾ tsp of cinnamon
• ¼ tsp of clove
• ¼ tsp of nutmeg
• 2 – 8oz packages of cream cheese (at room temperature)
Beat all together until smooth (5 min). Then, beat the following in one at a time:
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large yolk
Add and beat in until combined
• 1 can of pumpkin

Click here for a quick recipe for puff pastry. Once you’ve got that all set: roll out 2 sheets of puff pastry. Cut each sheet into 8 squares, press each square into an oiled cupcake tin. Put about 4oz of cheesecake mix in each puff pastry. Bake at 375 until puffed and golden brown (approximately 20 min). Most importantly, share and enjoy!

Let us know if you decided to make these, and how they came out. Until next week.

Our mezzanine has been transformed into a local artist’s gallery that has art from corner to corner. Be sure to save a little time next time you’re in to walk through and enjoy these pieces by an array of local artists.

In addition to our mezzanine being transformed, “Art in Action” allows the community to have a behind-the-scenes look at local artists creating their art in the lobby of Hotel Andaluz each month. Eliza Schmid will be featured on Nov. 13^th and J. Waid Griffin, also a painter, will be featured the following evening. Both shows will run from 5 – 8 p.m. Hotel Andaluz will donate a percentage of sales that occur during “Art in Action” to Harwood Art Center, a community outreach program of Escuela del Sol, an independent, non-profit Montessori school founded in 1968. harwoodartcenter.org

“Hotel Andaluz has always had a focus on local artists, which is evident in our mezzanine gallery,” said Howard Jacobs, General Manager of Hotel Andaluz. “This program takes it a step further and our ongoing partnerships with local organizations will give our guests a taste of Albuquerque’s thriving arts scene.” We are really excited about this new partnership and want to invite the community and guests to come experience this with us. Hope to see you on November 13 & 14!

ISEA2012 will be held in Albuquerque, NM, the first U.S. location in six years. This year’s theme will be Machine Wilderness, exploring the potential for humans, animals and machines to coexist in a positive, sustainable future. Machine Wilderness is analogous to New Mexico as an area of rapid growth and technology alongside wide expanses of open land. The symposium aims to present artists’ and technologists’ ideas for a more humane interaction between technology and wilderness in which “machines” can take many forms to support life on Earth.

The lead organizations hosting ISEA2012 are 516 ARTS, The University of New Mexico and The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History. There are a total over 50 partnering organizations including museums, colleges, nonprofit arts organizations, environmental organizations and the scientific and technological communities. The events include exhibitions, performances, screenings, speakers, artist talks, a Latin American forum, and the Intel Education Day. ISEA starts September 19 and lasts through September 23.

Hotel Andaluz is a proud sponsor of the ISEA2012 and will be hosting several artist talks, as well as late night lounge events in our rooftop bar, Ibiza. Don’t miss your chance to see and interact with this exciting event. For more information and event details, visit the ISEA2012 web site.