Santa Fe Style Christmas: Farolitos, Canyon Road, and 49-Year-Old Christmas Store
Santa Fe, New Mexico, offers a uniquely Southwestern Christmas experience, with adobe parapets lined with farolitos (votive candles in paper bags), cedar and piñon burning in fireplaces, and the sweet smell of spruce trees against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains.
Canyon Road Farolito Walk: On Christmas Eve, historic Canyon Road's sidewalks and alleyways are lined with paper and candle farolitos, guiding hundreds of people as they walk and sing carols.
The Shop - A Christmas Store: Celebrating its 49th year in 2026, The Shop on East Palace Avenue is one of the oldest year-round Christmas stores in the United States. It's also the original birthplace of the now-world-famous chile lights.
Local artist Kathy Peña creates detailed themed Santas, including Mexican Pancho Claus, Cowboy Claus, and Native American Claus, sculpting faces from clay and painting them by hand with glass dolls' eyes.
