Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts returning over Labor Day weekend

Leah Romero
Las Cruces Sun-News
Franciscan Art Festival during Labor Day Weekend 2019.

LAS CRUCES – The 16th annual Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts will be held over Labor Day weekend in September this year with art, live music, food and wine and beer gardens available for attendees.

The yearly arts festival is a fundraiser held at the Holy Cross Retreat Center in Mesilla Park — operated by the Province of Our Lady of Consolation — to bring attention to the various programs of the center. This includes the retreat program itself, outreach for medical patients, immigrants, those needing a place to stay and other needs.

Fr. Tom Smith, retreat center director, said organizers anticipate 75 to 85 arts and food vendors this year as well as an enchilada meal and live music on two stages. Spotted Dog Brewery and Mesa Vista Winery will be providing adult drinks in the wine and beer garden.

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A new addition to the weekend’s festivities will be a blessing of motorcycles held at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5. Smith said he was asked about the specific blessing and agreed.

“They’ll be rumbling through the property and hopefully stay and visit for a little while,” Smith said.

Michelle Hernandez of Anthony Texas checks out some of the bracelets from the Tamajesy Roar booth at a previous Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts at the Holy Cross Retreat Center in Mesilla Park.

Jewelry, paintings, photographs, quilts and many other items will be available for attendees to purchase. There will also be a raffle and silent auction. Festivalgoers will be able to walk around the center's outdoor areas as well as visit booths set up indoors. 

Attendance in the past has reportedly ranged from 4,000 to 5,000 people over the weekend, and Smith said they are hoping to see similar numbers this year. The festival was cancelled last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Vendor applications are still being accepted and Smith said youth artists are welcome to take part in the weekend; they don’t usually have many kids involved as artists. He said one young girl has participated for several years and has "developed her own little business.”

Interested vendors can call the retreat at 575-524-3688 or visit holycrossretreat.org to fill out an application form.

The Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 4 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 5 at the center, 600 Holy Cross Road in Mesilla Park.

Other Labor Day weekend events include the annual Hatch Chile Festival and the Las Cruces Harvest Wine Festival

Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.