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The Santa Fe Spring Festival is heading into its 21st year at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas on Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14.

鈥淚t is the celebration and start of our season,鈥� JC Gonzalez, El Rancho de Las Golondrinas special event and site rental manager, said.

The festival exemplifies Las Golondrinas鈥� mission as a living history museum, highlighting craftsmanship and ways of life from different periods, he said. While the festival is just over two decades old, Las Golondrinas is over 50 years old, and the property is even older.

鈥淭he museum has a longstanding history of building relationships and showcasing kind of New Mexican history and heritage,鈥� Gonzalez said, 鈥渁nd so to have these traditions hold on for over two decades is really exciting, and I think really speaks to what this museum is capable of.鈥�

Gonzalez has worked with the museum for a year and said he has seen the Santa Fe Spring Festival evolve in its identity. After seeing an overlap in audiences, the decision was made to combine the Spring Festival and the Fiesta de Los Ni帽os.

鈥�(We) really felt like we could really maximize what people get out of this festival, both education-wise and entertainment-wise,鈥� he said.

Las Golondrinas spans more than 500 acres, with about 200 acres open to the public and 34 historic buildings, including a blacksmith shop, tiendita and a mill. The festival gives visitors the opportunity to experience the full breadth of the ranch, he said.

鈥淭hroughout the ranch, we鈥檙e going to have our historic interpreters activating these spaces,鈥� Gonzalez said, including demonstrations in embroidery, adobe-making and traditional sheep shearing, which will tie into weaving.

鈥淲e work with our historical interpreters, and we really try to activate as many sites on the premises as possible,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd so the sites kind of demonstrate the activity.鈥�

Alongside hands-on activities, there will also be on-stage performances with live dancing and musicians. There are also artists and vendors so goers can see what people are making today and how it鈥檚 integrating within the community.

鈥淚 think through our live performances and our live entertainment, you see how these traditions and heritage live on through new education to youth,鈥� Gonzalez said.

What makes the festival special, he said, is that it lets people of all ages engage with history.

鈥淓ducation doesn鈥檛 stop once you grow up,鈥� Gonzalez said.

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.