Festival will kick off June 6 at 5:00 PM and end June 8, at 3:00 PM.
For more information, to take an active part in the festivities, booth space
and Chili Cook Off registration, or to purchase festival T-shirts, phone
the Trinidad Chamber of Commerce Office at 719-846-9285 and join in the
Santa Fe Trail Days Celebration!
Plan a trip to Trinidad for a living history activity that you're sure to remember! Three days of fun and excitement, experiencing life as the pioneers did are planned in the El Corazon De Trinidad National Historic District. The annual event is sponsored by the Trinidad/ Las Animas County Chamber of Commerce and this year promises to be the best yet. They are really going all out to provide a four star event. An extensive portion of Main Street, from Animas Street down to and including the Santa Fe Trail Museum (actual site of the Santa Fe Trail), will be portioned off to accommodate more than 100 vendors with booths from New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and from as far away as Alabama.
"Snapshot In Time" theme involves the businesses picking their favorite era from the Santa Fe Trail Days and dressing as the characters of their choice. They will decorate their stores to reflect the era in time of their choice. Pioneers, Indians, Victorian merchants, fur trappers and traders, soldiers, out laws and lawmen will be at this year's event. Long time merchant families will be presenting pictorials of the life and times of their ancestors. Windows and stores will reflect the "Snapshot In Time" theme so you will be offered the unique opportunity of actually experiencing life as it was then! Come in costume and enter the contest, there is no limit to the fun you can have dressed as your favorite character of the Trail Days era!
There will be a Beer Garden set up in Front of Black Jack's Steak house
to wet your whistle during the festivities. Continuous music will be provided
throughout the three-day festival. Friday night's street dance, 8 PM-11
PM, will feature TEX. MEX. entertainment, and on Saturday night Whiskey
Creek will preform on the stage and you can dance, dance, dance, till late,
late, late!
The Corazon Gallery, newly named "The Shops on Main", will present a quilting show and demonstrations on arts and hand crafts of the time. They will be doing a special interpretive show at The shops on Main related to Santa Fe Trail History. Artists will present works of their interpretation of the Trail Days Era. Bring your pocketbook, because they are sure to have something that you can't live without! Trinidad Catholic teachers will dress in habits of the era and have a food and beverage booth.
There will be a special Santa Fe Trail Flags exhibition on display at
the Mitchell Art Museum, depicting the history of the importance of flags
on the Santa Fe Trail. Don't miss the flag exhibition at the Trinidad History
Museum complex also. It will depict the history of the American Flag as
it changed throughout time.
Continuous music throughout the 3-day festival will be provided at the
bandstand in Coal Miners Memorial Park. Friday's entertainment will include
the Chuck Cusimano Band and Vientos. Saturday's entertainment will include
Colores de Tiempo Dance troop, Dynamix, the Mariachi Rio Grande, Waitless,
Mark Gardner's blue grass performance , Roberto Mondragon, the Southern
Colorado Repertory Theatre and Whiskey Creek. Sunday's entertainment lineup
includes the Dance Connection, Robin Barker playing the bagpipes, Joe Van
Loon Band and Bad Habitz.
Be sure and stop by the Chili Cook Off for a sample of some of the most mouth watering Chili in the Southwest. The splendidly costumed strolling Mariachis will provide cultural entertainment throughout the day, giving you the feeling that you actually went back in time and to another country. The strolling bag pipes add a distinctive foreign flavor to the excitement. The distant beats of the drums from one of the tipi, beckon you to take part in the activities at the Purgatoire River. Enter the duck race competition and while you are there, take a the River Tour. Stroll through time at the new River Walk, cool off in the shade and visit the interpretive exhibit depicting life on the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail. Young and old, there will be something to suit us all.
Santa Fe Trail Days festival will host a car and bike show for those
of you who like to see the transformation of transportation made through
time. Postal collectors will have the opportunity to expand their collections
by purchasing a limited edition postmark rubber stamped envelope which depicts
the Santa Fe Trail Days of Trinidad. You can bring your own envelope to
stamp, or you can buy one of theirs to stamp. These will only be available
during Trail Days, so don't miss out. To order by mail, contact the Trinidad
Post Office at 719-846-4323.
There will be a special children's area with a climbing wall, super slide,
skateboard demos, and an alpaca petting zoo near Coal Miners Memorial. You
won't want to miss out on the activities at the Trinidad History Museum
complex. There will be tons to do for kids and adults. Admission is free
to the Santa Fe Trail Museum and there will be a presentation of living
history activities throughout the day. Professional actors will re-enact
historical characters of the Santa Fe Trail. Witness one of the vivid renditions
of a wild west shoot out. For kids of all ages there will be apple bobbing
contests with prizes, pioneer games and activity handouts to take home and
try on your own later with your friends. Take part in one of the hands on
activities such as adobe brick making, or weaving.
Sounds like a real hoot! Take time out to spend a day, or all three days, at the Santa Fe Trail Days Festival. You will love it, and your family will love you for it.
Walking Tours: History of the Purgatoire River
Free tours by Dough Holdread at 9:00 am and 4:00 pm.At the Trinidad History Museum
(300 East Main Street~ Call 846-7217)Tours of Trinidad's Only Official Santa Fe National Historic Trail Sites,
10 am-4 pmSanta Fe Trail Museum: free self-guided toursBaca House: admission charged for guided toursLiving History Presentations in the Baca Courtyard
Free on-going presentations between 9 am-4 pm by the El Pueblo Living
History AssociationHerbal RemediesSouthwest Food waysDying and Weaving WoolMountain MenHistoric American Flags DisplayChildren's Activities in the Baca Courtyard
Free on-going activities between 9 am-4 pmMake miniature adobe bricksWeave with woolApple bobbing contestPioneer gamesColoring and activity sheetsLive Music and Trail Talks
Free from the Veranda of the Bloom Mansion11:00 am "The Military Route of the Santa Fe Trail in Colorado"
by Richard Louden1:00 pm "Music of the Santa Fe Trail and Far West" by Mark
Gardner and Rex Rideout2:30 pm "Hispanic Culture along the Santa Fe Trail" by Roberto
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