​ Canyon Road Summer Walk Kicks Off.

This family-friendly series of pedestrian events on the first Wednesday of each month will bring the spirit of the Farolito Walk to Canyon Road all summer long.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—May 27, 2024; Santa Fe, New Mexico: Summer Walk, a series of roving celebrations along Santa Fe’s celebrated Canyon Road, commences on Wednesday, June 5, from 5-8 p.m. 

Canyon Road Summer Walks are planned for the first Wednesday of each month through October 2nd, 2024, with an additional celebration for Halloween. These events invite the community to enjoy live music, storytelling and art making. There will be food vendors, poets, and pop-up cocktail bars. Canyon Road Summer Walk is brought to you with support from the City of Santa Fe Office of Economic Development and City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department. 

There are more than 50 participants in the line-up for the inaugural Summer Walk. This kickoff will include a discussion on poetry and democracy with Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and City Poet Laureate Tommy Archuleta; beloved local musician Alex Maryol; indigenous fiddler Sage Cornelius; the Georgia O’Keefe ArtTruck; Diné Soul Food by Yapopup at 4 KINSHIP; and even a Bad Advice Booth with local experts Cyndy Tanner, David Stafford, and Tania Katan. Pop-up bars are provided by exclusive craft cocktail sponsor As Above, So Below.

Summer Walk was conceived by Maggie Fine, Santa Fe native and Co-owner and Roving Editor of Santa Fe Magazine. Maggie had the idea while seated on a barstool at El Farol, conducting interviews for the magazine’s Canyon Road issue. Maggie returned to New Mexico in 2017 with her family to raise her daughter and saw the need for a neighborhood gathering that would allow families to enjoy our city’s most iconic road.

“This event is a full-blown grass roots effort focused on unearthing our history through art, storytelling, music, and food,” Fine said. “Canyon Road was Santa Fe’s main street for centuries. A lot changed when I was growing up here in the 80s and 90s, when young people were told to keep off the Plaza and Canyon Road. Many of my generation have now returned to raise our kids, and we want to come back to the road.”

“Plugging old traditions like the Farolito Walk into summertime, when we can all enjoy the thin magic light of our city, will be an awakening for newcomers and a homecoming for so many of us.”

Maggie enlisted several other mothers in the neighborhood to organize the Summer Walk. Mika Van Winkle spent the early days of the pandemic on Canyon Road with her husband. As a mom with experience in producing nonprofit events, she says this one feels personal. “I’m proud to serve my neighborhood and community, where I have chosen to raise my family,” she says.

Emily Leveille, a portfolio manager at Thornburg and mother of two, has made her focus guaranteeing that Summer Walk is a sustainability-driven event. Bike valets, refillable water bottle stations, composting and glass recycling drums will be provided at all Summer Walks. 

Between their careers and parenting, Maggie, Mika, and Emily have been joined by Brienne Rose and Stevieh Hazlitt to launch this new gathering. This isn’t the first time this band of mothers came together to plan something special for the community. Last winter they organized the wildly popular Winter Village at the Railyard, which brought the holidays home, benefitting local businesses and bringing Santa to the center of Santa Fe. They share a common vision of a heightened Santa Fe for their kids and for all of us to experience, rediscover, and remember how culturally rich our community was in the past and can be again today. 

To view the full list of participants visit https://www.canyonroadsummerwalk.com, and follow the Summer Walk on Instagram at @canyonroadsummerwalk.