News Release

Santa Fe County Offers a Summer of Activities

For Immediate Release
Date: 6/20/2000
Contact:

(505) 988-1402

SANTA FE, N.M. - Beyond Santa Fe's city limits lies Santa Fe
County - a world that includes living history museums, national
monuments, religious sites, Indian Pueblos and a summer full
of activities for the whole family.

Santa Fe County is home to festivals at El Rancho de las Golondrinas
- a living history museum of 33 historic structures on 200 acres
just 15 minutes of Santa Fe. This traditional Spanish ranch
dates back to 1710 and was a stopping place for travelers on
the famed El Camino Real during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The annual Spring Festival is June 3 and 4; a Wine Festival
on July 1 and 2, and a Summer Festival on August 1 and 2.

Bandelier National Monument was the site of the ancient Anasazi
civilization, c.1200 A.D., much of which is unchanged today.
Self-guided hikes of cave and cliff dwellings are offered.

Cerrillos, the country's oldest designated mining district,
once yielded fabulous lodes of turquoise, silver, gold, lead
and zinc near this boomtown of the 1800s. Movie studios have
since discovered its Old West authenticity.

The Santuario de Chimayo, "Lourdes of the Southwest," a chapel
known for its healing earth and "milagros" or miracles, is the
centerpiece for this old-time weaving village. Studios and galleries
offer handmade clothing, rugs and blankets.

San Idelfonso Pueblo, the Indian Name Po-Who-Ge-Oweenge means
"Where the water cuts down through." The area is strongly bonded
to its ancient heritage and is home to nearly 40 full-time potters
and painters, many of whom are world-famous. San Ildefonso is
best known for its polished pottery with matte black-on-black
designs.

Other festivals this summer include the Santa Fe Plaza Arts
& Crafts Festival June 17 and 18; Contemporary Spanish Market
July 29 and 30; and the infamous Indian Market August 19 and
20. Indian Market is the world's largest showing and sale of
Native American arts while Spanish Market is the largest exhibition
and sale of Spanish colonial artwork in the country.

The famed Georgia O'Keeffe Museum houses the works of one of
the century's most important artists. Exhibitions this summer
include Paintings from the Museum's Permanent collection June
28 through July 20 and "O'Keeffe on Paper," July 29 through
October 29.

For more information call 1-800-548-8272.

The County's tourism advertising efforts are targeted to in-state
and national visitors. The campaign, "There's More to Santa
Fe than Santa Fe," created by Rick Johnson & Company, encourages
the visitor to acknowledge Santa Fe as a destination while promoting
the attributes of the greater Santa Fe area.