Purple haze: Lavender in the Village celebrates the flower with a festival
Jul. 18—Lavender in the Village celebrates the purple-hued bloom with art, food, beverages, fresh cut bundles and infused bath and body products made with the woodsy, herbal-scented flower.
This year's event takes place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 20, at the Larry P. Abraham Agri-Nature Center, 4920 Rio Grande Blvd. NW in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Eventgoers can park onsite for free.
Festival guests can enjoy live music and entertainment on two stages. Performers include Hello Darlin' at 8 a.m., the Burque Jazz Bandits at 10 a.m., Clark Andrew Libbey & Kristen Rad at noon, and The Rodney Bowe Experience at 2 p.m. on the East Music Stage. The West Music Stage will showcase Ronaldo Baca at 8:30 a.m., Free Range Buddhas at 11 a.m., and One More Silver Dollar at 1 p.m.
Children at the event can take part in free hands-on activities and interactive demonstrations led by Explora learning center. There will also be a free llama meet and greet that all ages can participate in.
An Artisanal Marketplace will feature a large variety of lavender-inspired products crafted by more than 120 local artisans. Items include essential oils, soaps, sangria, food, art and locally-crafted wine, spirits and beer. A full list of vendors is available at lavender.riograndefarm.org.
Eventgoers can make their own lavender sachet for free, purchase fresh lavender bundles picked at the Agri-Nature Center fields for $10, and create their own lavender-inspired art at lavender ceramic painting classes led by artists from Kelly Jo Designs. Painting classes are $10. Participants can register online when they get their festival tickets.
Attendees also can participate in workshops on topics such as composting, sustainable gardening, the benefits of organic agriculture, climate adaption science and efforts to support Native American farmers. Free Master Gardeners garden tours will be given during the event.
The event is the largest lavender festival in the Southwest. It is produced by the Rio Grande Community Farm, which promotes sustainable agriculture and community engagement. The farm partners with the Lavender in the Village Foundation and the Larry P. Abraham Agri-Nature Center for the event.
"What we do on our farm is we have over 100 community garden row holders," said Jamie Welles, executive director at Rio Grande Community Farm. "We have 42 micro farmers that are small farmers that farm from 1/8 of an acre to two acre plots. And then we have two farm incubator programs. One is Tres Hermanas Farms, which is the Lutheran Family Services refugee partnership. Refugees that come to our country learn how to farm there. We also have The Mountain Dojo's Celestial Farms that have neurodivergent members of that incubator program."
Welles said the Rio Grande Community Farm is important to the community for a variety of reasons.
"As we discovered during the pandemic, you can have food insecurity because there's a hiccup in the supply chain, and if you're growing your own food, you can provide for yourself," she said. "It's part of that sustainability of our community, growing your own food, having the farmers sell their local produce so the community gets produce that is grown locally. It stimulates the economy."