At Bandelier National Monument, the Fall Fiesta makes room for visitors to encounter living arts and traditions through dance, weaving and conversation. The two-day gathering on October 10 and 11 brings Pueblo dance groups and Diné artists to the park’s visitor center in northern New Mexico.
Sunday’s schedule names Picuris Pueblo Dance Group performances at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., followed by Cloud Eagle Dance Group from Jemez Pueblo at 2:30 p.m. The National Park Service also lists ranger-guided Pueblo Loop walks, a Junior Ranger activity table and talks connected with Hubbell Trading Post. The program runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the visitor center, according to the National Park Service event schedule.
A weaving demonstration invites questions
Diné weaver Tonita Yazzie is scheduled to demonstrate weaving throughout both days. Diné trader Wallace James Jr. is leading rug talks at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., sharing the weaving process, history, symbolism and artistry of Navajo rugs, according to Western National Parks’ event listing.
The rug show is the first stop of Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site’s 2026–2027 tour of the Southwest. Handwoven Navajo rugs and sterling silver jewelry are part of the event, with visitors able to learn about the works while browsing. The talks and demonstrations are free and open to all ages.
Pairing those demonstrations with Pueblo dance performances and park walks gives the weekend several ways to learn: by watching artists at work, listening to a trader’s account of a woven object, or joining a ranger on the Pueblo Loop. The fiesta’s schedule places those activities in the same visitor-center setting, where families and other guests can move between programs.
Traditions meet a landscape shaped by generations
Bandelier’s event page connects the fiesta with the traditions of people who have called the canyons home. The monument’s Pueblo Loop Trail begins behind the visitor center, giving visitors a nearby route through the landscape around the gathering.
For visitors arriving on Sunday, the schedule offers a clear path through the day: the Junior Ranger table opens at 9:30 a.m., a guided Pueblo Loop walk begins at 10:30 a.m., and the first Picuris Pueblo Dance Group performance starts at 11 a.m. The afternoon brings another Picuris performance, a historic-district tour and the Jemez Pueblo dance group.
The Fall Fiesta is a chance to meet the people and practices that give this place its continuing cultural life. Bandelier’s program centers artists, traders, dancers and park interpreters as they share knowledge with visitors in the landscape where those traditions endure.
Program details are drawn from the National Park Service’s October 8 event update and Western National Parks’ event listing.
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