36th Annual Santa Fe Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival

In the height of festival season in Santa Fe, at The Don Gaspar Inn we meet people from all over the world with interests in culture, art, cuisine, history, and the performance arts. Between August 27-29th bluegrass music lovers will come to Santa Fe for the 36th Annual Santa Fe Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Festival. Held at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds in Santa Fe, this celebration of traditional acoustic music will include a mix of national, regional, and local performers, as well as instrument contests, jam sessions, free camping, and a barn dance on Saturday evening featuring music by the Orpheus Supertones and Bayou Seco.

Top billing at this year’s festival are The Orpheus Supertones, one of the best-kept secrets in traditional old-time string band music. Additional performances include The Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s prestigious Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2003, and The Badly Bent, winner of the prestigious 2005 Band Competition at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Also appearing will be a number of regional and local bands including The Squash Blossom Boys, The Mullany Family, Unstrung Heroes, The Family Coal, The Duke City Swampcoolers, Breaking Blue, Buddy and Tina Wright, The Love Buzzards, Coyote Crossing, and Young Edward.

Event Hours are Friday, August 27th 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM, Saturday, August 28th 9:00 AM – 11:00 PM, and Sunday, August 29th 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. For tickets and information call Eric Carlson at (505) 984-3297 or visit southwestpickers.org.

The Don Gaspar Inn, The Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch are members of Inns of the Southwest. Please visit our websites for monthly specials.

2010 New Mexico Women Authors' Book Festival

The gardens at the Don Gaspar Inn are a lovely place to enjoy your favorite book. On October 2nd and 3rd, if visiting Santa Fe you can meet New Mexico women authors at The Third Annual New Mexico Women Authors’ Book Festival.

The two day event, presented in seven different venues at the New Mexico History Musem, features one hundred authors grouped by Fiction, History/Biography, Poetry, Food/Cooking, Creative Arts, Spirit/Health, Children and special topics. The authors will present in three tents in the Palace Courtyard, the auditorium, the Meem Community Room and the Learning Center. In addition, book sales and author’s book signing will take place, as well as live music, food, and special presentations from the Palace Print Shop, Santa Fe’s Book Arts Group and the Fray Angelico Library.

The New Mexico Women’s Author Book Festival is organized and produced by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation Shops, part of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, through the MNMFShops initiative “New Mexico Creates.” For more information, reference newmexicocreates.org or call 505-982-3016.

The Don Gaspar Inn, The Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch are members of Inns of the Southwest. Please visit our websites for monthly specials.

Award-Winning Author Sherman Alexie Reading at The Lensic

Guests of The Don Gaspar Inn who visit during the annual Santa Fe Indian Market come a week early to enjoy a variety of native cultural events throughout the city. Those with an interest in native literature will be excited to attend a reading at The Lensic Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, August 17 by Author Sherman Alexie, recipient of the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award.

The evening will feature a reading of selected of poetry and prose from Alexie’s various books. Author, poet and screenwriter,Sherman Alexie was named one of The New Yorker's 20 top writers for the 21st century. The New York Times Book Review described him as "one of the major lyric voices of our time." His first novel, Reservation Blues, won Booklist's Editors Choice Award for Fiction. Indian Killer was a New York Times Notable Book. The Toughest Indian in the World won the 2001 PEN/Malamud Award, honoring excellence in the art of storytelling. Ten Little Indians was a 2003 national bestseller and Publishers Weekly Book of the Year. His latest books include Flight, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a 2007 National Book Award winner in Young People's Literature, and Face.

The event begins at 6 PM and is followed by a book signing in the Lensic Theater lobby. Tickets will be available through The Lensic box office online or by calling 505-988-1234.Call (505) 988-7050 for more information.

The Don Gaspar Inn, The Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch are members of Inns of the Southwest. Please visit our websites for monthly specials.

Museum of New Mexico Foundation Shop’s 20th Annual Rug Auction

Guest suites and casitas at the Don Gaspar Inn feature a selection of furnishings and décor to inspire the collector. If you are visiting on August 7th, you will be able to purchase Navajo rugs that appeal to your sense of native aesthetic at the 20th Annual Navajo Rug Auction. Hosted by the Museum of New Mexico, the auction will showcase 150 contemporary museum-quality rugs in wide-ranging styles, including Two Gray Hills, Ganados, Teec Nos Pos, Yeis, Pictorials, Wide Ruins, Storms, and Sandpainting.

The auction will be held in the Palace of the Governors Courtyard, beginning with a preview from 9-11 AM., followed promptly by bidding. Admission is free and bid cards are $5.

A program of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Museum Shops, auction proceeds benefit educational projects, acquisitions and other programs at the Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum, New Mexico Museum of Art, Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, six state monuments, and Office of Archaeological Studies. For more information on the 20th Annual Navajo Rug Auction, call Tannis Eberts at 505-982-3016 ext. 22, or email support@newmexicocreates.org.

The Don Gaspar Inn, The Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch are members of Inns of the Southwest. Please visit our websites for monthly specials.

Hiking in Santa Fe

For those guests of The Don Gaspar Inn who love to hike, you will find our location convenient for all your needs. Just a few minutes away from downtown are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, offering acres of wilderness to explore, with miles of trails to explore that range from easy to challenging.

With shaded forests of pinon, juniper and ponderosa trees and meadows filled with Indian paintbrush, purple lupine and other colorful wildflowers, the following trails offer wilderness and beauty in a serene landscape.

Windsor Trail/Little Tesuque Trail, Hyde Memorial State Park
Located at the top of Highway 475, at the Ski Basin, which climbs to over 11,000 feet through conifer and aspen forest and leads to the 250,000 acre Pecos Wilderness area.

Aspen Vista Trail, Santa Fe Ski Basin Area
This is the most popular trail in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The gradual uphill climb and the width of the road make it ideal for hikers of all abilities and ages. It's also popular with cross-country skiers.

Big Tesuque Trail, Hyde Memorial State Park
Easy hike along the banks of the Rio Tesuque. Great places to picnic along the trail.

Black Canyon Trail, Hyde Memorial State Park
The Black Canyon trail is a short, easy trail through an aspen-fir forest. If you take this trail, you will see several types of wildflowers, and possibly lots of butterflies. This is a good trail for children or a family.

Borrego/Bear Wallow Trail , Hyde Memorial State Park
Located just above the Hyde Park camping area, this is a winding trail that crosses the Little Tesuque Creek and is deep in a conifer and aspen forest. This hike is a pleasant four mile loop with some vertical relief (about 800 ft elevation change) in an aspen-fir forest. You could extend the length of this hike by taking one of several other trails which intersect this trail.

Chamisa Trail, Santa Fe Ski Basin Area
The Chamisa trail is an easy hike only six miles from the plaza. The Chamisa Trail is well defined and hikes through rolling terrain and meadows for 4.75 miles round trip. The hike will take you through large stands of evergreen trees.

Visit santafe.org for an in depth listing of trails in the Santa Fe area, or reference the New Mexico State Parks Division.

The Don Gaspar Inn, The Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch are members of Inns of the Southwest. Please visit our websites for monthly specials.

Santa Fe Bandstand 2010

The eighth annual Santa Fe Bandstand is in full swing, so get in your dancing shoes and sashay from the Don Gaspar Inn to the Plaza for free live music on the Community Stage. The musical event is featured Monday through Thursday: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 - 8:30 PM, and Monday and Wednesday afternoons from noon - 1:30 PM.

The seven week long free music festival will run through August 19th and features 79 free performances with some of the finest, Blues, Latin, Native, Country, Rock, Reggae, R&B, Jazz, Bluegrass, Folk, Americana, Alternative and World Beat Music that New Mexico has to offer.

Santa Fe Bandstand is produced by Outside In, a nonprofit, community-based group dedicated to providing the community free access to the arts. For a listing of performances and sponsors, reference santafebandstand or call 505-986-6054.

The Don Gaspar Inn, The Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch are members of Inns of the Southwest. Please visit our websites for monthly specials.

Vacation Packages at the Don Gaspar Inn

Did you know that the Don Gaspar Inn offers special discounts all year long? Our vacation packages are designed for travelers who want to experience the best New Mexico and the southwest have to offer. Whether you are planning a visit during festival season or want a last minute getaway, the Don Gaspar Inn, Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch combine outstanding accommodations and unsurpassed hospitality with an excellent value.

Inns of the Southwest Special - Tour the amazing historic southwest and stay 5 nights or more at any combination of our 3 inns and receive 10% off your booking at all properties!

Fill in the Gap Special - Book any one night gap at the inn for only $175 a night... Room hopping is great! You will experience more than one of our casitas and suites and we'll move your bags!
For information on specials and accommodations, visit our website or call 888.986.8664. We look forward to hosting your stay!

The Don Gaspar Inn, The Casa Blanca Inn, and Blue Lake Ranch are members of Inns of the Southwest.