On Christmas Eve, thousands of people walk Santa Fe’s Canyon Road past adobe walls lined with thousands of glowing paper-bag lanterns. In Santa Fe, those lanterns are called farolitos, not luminarias. The Canyon Road farolito walk is one of the city’s most beloved holiday traditions, and knowing the local vocabulary is only the start.
According to Visit Canyon Road, farolitos are little lights made from paper bags, sand, and tea candles. The word translates from Spanish as “little lantern,” and it is the preferred term in Santa Fe for the decorations called luminarias elsewhere in New Mexico and the Southwest. In Santa Fe, “luminarias” usually means something different: small bonfires of piñon logs that burn along the road during the walk.
Here are eight things to know before you join the crowd on Christmas Eve.
Planning for the Canyon Road farolito walk
Canyon Road is a narrow, winding street on Santa Fe’s east side, lined with art galleries, studios, shops, and restaurants in century-old adobe buildings. On Christmas Eve, the street is closed to cars, and residents and visitors stroll Canyon Road, Acequia Madre, and other east-side streets. The walk begins at sundown and continues into the evening.
1. In Santa Fe, farolitos are the paper-bag lanterns and luminarias are the bonfires
The difference in vocabulary is a real point of local identity. In Santa Fe and much of northern New Mexico, farolitos are the paper-bag lanterns, while luminarias are small bonfires. In Albuquerque and southern New Mexico, many people call the paper-bag lanterns luminarias…