On Saturday, June 8, the Celebrate Questa! event finds the Questa History Trail team joining with the Questa Art Market artists, local chefs, and popular bands, to celebrate this area’s history, culture, and artistry.
Local history experts will be present along the Questa History Trail, the half-mile walking trail that reaches from the village’s only traffic light and snakes around to the hidden historic plaza with its restored St. Anthony’s 1840s adobe church, and back to highway 522.
The interpretive signage along the route reveals and explores a true microcosm of northern New Mexico history.
The shaded market area that the trail passes through, the Questa Farmers Market site, will host about 15 area artists and craftspeople. Find locally made jewelry, beadwork, yarn art, fused glass and much more. Questa Farmers Market youth interns’ work—abundant plantings and the beginning of an orchard, help make the space inviting. A children’s activity table will be set up so your little ones can be occupied while you enjoy the art.
Wonderful food will be available from Farmers Market regulars Wendy Medina serving local favorites, plus Chef Casey with his gourmet creations from regional ingredients.
And some of your favorite local musicians will perform: from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Chris & Rodney Arellano will play their unique danceable Nuevo Americano music, and from 2 to 4 p.m. enjoy the Arcane Ramblers’ special brand of all-natural, handmade string tunes, oldtime, Americana, and other musical arcana on guitar, banjo, mandolin, and fiddle.
This celebration of our Questa History Trail is a National Trails Day event, honoring the value of every kind of trail throughout our country.
Our trail was one of the first projects designed after the closing of the mine, on the heels of the restoration of the San Antonio de Padua (St. Anthony’s Church), a testament to the Questa citizens who chose against all odds to not abandon this historic church after major structural failure occurred in 2008, but to rebuild and restore it. Within, it is a beautiful exhibit of the many local craftspeople’s work that helped bring it back to life with their generations-old skills. A local guide will be on-site for those of you not familiar with this incredible story.
The Questa Creative Council board members will be present to share the ways we strengthen community through arts, culture, history, and education. You can join us with a membership or much appreciated donation. Volunteer opportunities abound for our many projects and events; come chat with us at our booth!
Parking is available behind the trail’s welcome kiosk at the traffic light (look for the white tent), or along the edge of the Visitor Center/Market parking lot just below. The festivities will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., hope to see you celebrate with all of us!
