The 1st Annual Urban Farm and Harvest Festival:

September 27th, 2008, 2pm – 7pm at the Open Space Visitor Center

Did you know that in addition to other important public lands such as the Sandia Foothills Open Space, the Petroglyph National Monument and the Rio Grande Valley State Park, the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division preserves over 366 acres of farmland within the Albuquerque area? 

“Since the purchase of the Candelaria Farm Preserve in 1977, the City’s Open Space Division has proven to be one of the key local agencies involved in the protection of agricultural lands in Albuquerque,” says Mayor Martin Chavez.  “Our achievements in farm preservation provide another example of why we have one of the most celebrated Open Space programs in the nation.”

WHAT:  A Celebration of Open Space, urban agriculture, local food, and community with music, fun, workshops, and more!

WHEN: National Public Lands Day, September 27th, 2008, 2pm – 7pm

WHERE:  Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors Blvd NW. The Visitor Center is located east of Coors at the end of Bosque Meadows Rd, which is between Montano and Paseo del Norte.

COST: FREE

See below for more details!

Open Space is proud to be a part of Albuquerque’s agricultural heritage, and this year we’re celebrating with a unique event for the whole family.  For the inaugural year of this event, we’ve joined forces with local farmers, local businesses, and conservation organizations to bring attention to the importance of preserving our agricultural heritage. During this event you can:

• Visit with local farmers
• Participate in free workshops
• Talk to local organizations working to preserve agriculture
• Learn more about Albuquerque’s Open Space program at our beautiful Visitor Center
• View birds and wildlife at the Visitor Center’s 24 acre farm and wildlife preserve. Tour the farms on a hay bale ride!

ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES including live music, arts and crafts for the kids, face painting and henna art by Have on Art, food demonstrations, apple harvesting, an apple cider press, and more!

*MUSIC!

Enjoy the following performers on the grassy lawn overlooking our 24 acre working farm/wildlife preserve:

• 2:30 – 3:30 pm: Big Daddy Long Loin/Recycle Man ("One Man Big Band")
• 3:45 – 4:45 pm: Aztec Dancers (drumming and dance)
• 5:00 – 6:00 pm: The Rivet Gang (Bluegrass)
• 6:00 – 7:00 pm: Antares (Jazz and Blues)

Workshops and Demonstrations: 

Throughout the day you can participate in free workshops including a composting demo, wild plant harvesting, water harvesting, and more!

*Scheduled Demonstrations:

• 2:00pm: Compost Workshop with Greg Baker, Environmental Scientist with the New Mexico Environment Department Outreach Section.
• 3:00pm: Propagating native edible shrubs from the bosque.  Martin Martinez, Open Space Forester. 
• 3:30pm: Heritage Garden Tour, Jim Sattler, Open Space Director of Resource Management and Visitor Services.  Learn about native edible landscaping plants and ancient and modern garden practices that are appropriate for our desert climate. 
• 4:00pm: Collecting and preparing edible and medicinal weeds and plants. 
• Every 30 minutes at the Visitor Center Theater: Presentations of the film Farm to School: Our Children’s Health, Our Community’s Future.

*Schedules subject to change.

For more information about the event, call 452-5216, or see www.cabq.gov/openspace.  

Email: kswanson@cabq.gov