Jennifer Goes to Things & Does Stuff
Seasonal events downtown
On the evening after Thanksgiving, an impressively large crowd gathered on the Santa Fe Plaza to witness the annual tree lighting. At the moment the center of the city went from darkness to being awash with color, hundreds of us shouted in excitement as if we had never before seen such a magical sight.
As I bumped happily along in the throngs of people, I couldn’t remember ever being in such a big group of revelers on the Plaza. Marshall James Kavanaugh, a street poet who writes, for tips, about anything you suggest, had his table and typewriter set up that night on the sidewalk near Santa Fe Espresso Co. He told me he’d never seen a crowd like this, either. A couple of weeks earlier, on a dry and windy afternoon, he’d written me a poem about “the future.” His business was bustling during the tree lighting. His customers that night, mostly children, requested topics such as snow and unicorns. My spirits were so lifted by all the camaraderie downtown that I decided to attend several more outdoor holiday events — to take full advantage of whatever good will 2018 had left to offer. The next opportunity was the first night of Chanukah, on Sunday, Dec. 2. The Santa Fe Jewish Center hosts this party on the Plaza every year. It was especially important to me to attend such a public gathering so soon after the Oct. 27 mass murder of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
It was a cold, gray day, but more than 200 people turned out to stamp their freezing toes to the music of Los Klezmerados de Santa Fe and sample latkes and traditional Jewish donuts called .At dusk, Rabbi Berel Levertov and Mayor Alan Webber lit a large decorative menorah near the stage, followed by more dancing. Elan Gerzon, who was grooving near the band, told me that he was a weaver from Israel-Palestine. He lives in Española, where he directs youth education programs. “This is my favorite of all holidays, this time of lighting the dark back up — not just for Jews, but the whole world,” he said. “There is a lot of fear in being Jewish, and it’s hard to express our pride in a way that is fearless and beautiful, humble and humane, all at the same time. I think it’s wonderful to be able to come together and dance and listen to music, and remember thousands of years of miracles being lit up. We all need each other for that.”
I attended my first Las Posadas on Sunday, Dec. 9. The retelling of Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter so that she could give birth was like watching a parade in the round, with the audience following Joseph, Mary, and their fellow pilgrims as they sang traditional Spanish songs. Along the route, they periodically stopped to ask for lodging but were refused each time — and then taunted, from the rooftops, by actors dressed as devils. Eventually, they were welcomed into the Palace of the Governors. I enjoyed this theatrical event for the way its energy increased as it went on. The singing got louder and the devils’ machinations more dramatic as Joseph and Mary grew desperate for a place to rest. To make the pageantry all the more poignant, this year’s Las Posadas fell on the eighth night of Chanukah. The Plaza menorah was fully lit as the procession rounded the corner of Palace Avenue to make its final entreaty.
For me, the main event of Christmas in Santa Fe is the Canyon Road Farolito Walk, held annually on Dec. 24, when the streets are lined with