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Culture

Balloon Fiesta reaches the sky for the 53rd year

Maria Fernandez | October 13

The Balloon Fiesta brought visitors from all over the world to the Land of Enchantment to experience the early morning rush to the park to see the balloons take flight. The event, held between Oct. 4 and Sunday, Oct. 12, featured both new and old crowd favorites that ascended in Albuquerque’s blue skies. April and Autumn Nieto, Albuquerque locals, try to attend the fiesta every year, they said. “I like the special shapes day, it’s the best. It’s always great, especially waking up early in the morning,” Autumn Nieto said.

Culture

Street medicine steward speaks at UNM

Addison Fulton | October 6

The University of New Mexico hosted a documentary and a doctor who said he ventured under bridges to not just help the unhoused, but to save the medical profession. Now, across cities and nations, medical teams go on the street to carry out their mission of bringing care to the vulnerable and reconnecting with the outcast. On Thursday, Oct. 2, UNM hosted a screening of “Go To The People,” a documentary following “street medicine” teams that deliver healthcare to people who are unhoused.

Culture

Silent Lights’ debut at University Stadium

Lexis Lovato | October 6

Partygoers danced at the University of New Mexico’s University Stadium for the 2025 Silent Lights disco, where students wore headphones programmed with an assortment of DJ sets and music channels to tune into throughout the night. For the first time on Thursday, Oct. 2, Silent Lights took place at the University Stadium rather than Smith Plaza, due to the construction site surrounding the ongoing demolition of the Humanities Building. This year, students had a larger, unfenced, area to dance in, with the DJ stage set up near the stadium’s general admission section.

Culture

A pictorial display of UNM’s historic moments

Lexis Lovato | October 6

Historians Amber Lane and Portia Vescio walked visitors through a photographic memory lane of some of the most impactful moments in the University of New Mexico’s history, on Sept. 30, as an excerpt from their book, “University of New Mexico.” The book is a collection of photographs capturing some of the University’s greatest accomplishments and historic events. Lane and Vescio’s book was released in August, and was created using UNM’s Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections. It highlights the influence of Pueblo architecture, the diverse communities within UNM and the historical pathways the University paved.

Culture

UNM Students continue annual celebratory burning of ‘Pistol Pete’

Lexis Lovato | September 29

The undying tradition of torching the Aggie brings students and alumni together to share their collective pride, as a paper mache Pistol Pete is set ablaze, honoring the historic rivalry between the University of New Mexico Lobos and the New Mexico State University Aggies. The two institutions have feuded 115 times, earning titles such as The Rio Grande Rivalry and The Battle of I-25. This year’s game marks the 131st anniversary of the competition since the first football game between the teams, which happened in 1894, 18 years before New Mexico was recognized as a state.

Culture

Fat Bear Week returns: these bears are as hungry as a, well…

Maria Fernandez and Jaden McKelvey-Francis | September 29

In anticipation of the upcoming hibernation season, burly bears are competing to be crowned the fattest brown bear as part of Fat Bear Week, an online voting competition for the public to choose their favorite and plumpest at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Fat Bear Week is a single-elimination style tournament where the bear with the most votes is anointed Fat Bear Week champion, according to the Katmai Conservancy. Voters have the chance to see how the bears looked in the spring and compare them to their current shape, often many pounds heavier in preparation for the winter, and watch them through livestreams. It is recommended that people cast their ballot for the bear they feel most exemplifies fatness and success as a brown bear, according to the competition guidelines. Voting will end on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Culture

Herbalist guides enthusiasts through tour of UNM’s plant life

Lexis Lovato | September 29

On a sunny early autumn day on Sept. 23, plant lovers followed herbalist, Dara Saville, around the University of New Mexico to learn all about various plants located throughout the central campus, and how those plants are used beneficially for our health and environment. Saville is the founder and primary instructor of Albuquerque Herbalism, a herbal studies program that provides one-day specialty classes and an upcoming, in-depth semester-long course. She also serves as the founder and director of the Yerba Mansa Project, which strives to restore habitats as a community, while learning about native medicinal plants and land stewardship.

Culture

Santos: New Mexico’s generational art form

Maria Fernandez | September 22

Throughout New Mexico’s history, art has been an integral part of telling the rich and vibrant stories and beliefs of its local people. One such style of art unique to the southwest is the craft of creating “santos,” the name given to multiple types of artistic demonstrations of figures in Catholicism, including paintings on wooden tablets known as retablos, carved statues called bultos and reredos, panel paintings often displayed behind the altar in churches. Santos were originally displayed in the mission churches the Franciscans built when they came to the southwest, and typically depicted a saint, the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, or the Holy Family, Jana Gottshalk, curator and museum director of the Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum, wrote in a statement to the Daily Lobo.

Culture

Art historian shares anti-racist pictorial works

Lexis Lovato | September 22

In strong ink, artists illustrate figures and scenes in black and white, illuminating a nuanced history of marginalized communities. Through prints, artists tell their stories and call out for justice, and with the help of modern technology, art historian Bruno Pinheiro presented their pieces so an audience can listen and learn. Pinheiro, an art historian stationed as a postdoctoral fellow at the Leonard A. Lauder Center for Modern Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, led the show as he walked a digital audience through a remote museum of print works depicting the struggles and triumphs of connecting members of marginalized communities on Friday, Sept. 19, hosted by the University of New Mexico Latin American and Iberian Institute.

Culture

Lobos y Lowriders shifts into gear

Marina Olmstead | September 22

Polished rims, shiny hoods and big smiles kicked off the Lobos y Lowriders event on Wednesday, Sept. 17. In the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, New Mexico’s lowriders proudly showed off their sweet rides and unique culture, bringing color and shine to the University of New Mexico Student Union Building courtyard. “If this car could talk; imagine what it would tell you,” Frank “Poncho” Chavez, the president of the Duke’s Car Club Albuquerque and owner of a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, said.

Culture

Cowboys and cultists band together for acid westerns

Addison Fulton and Jaden McKelvey-Francis | September 22

Beneath a searing desert sun, an endless landscape of sand and solitude brought together both cinepiles and history buffs alike to support a unique take on the classic western. Tucked in a wooden cabin on Saturday, Sept. 20, the team behind the “Birth of the Acid Western” hosted a fundraiser supporting the post-production of their documentary on the filmmaker Orville Wanzer. Wanzer was a professor of film and journalism at New Mexico State University, as well as a surrealist western filmmaker. The acid western genre, which first emerged from the counter-culture movements of the 1960s, is a film set against a western backdrop, but unapologetically engages with darker and more subversive themes, and deviates from the typical hero’s journey present in most westerns, Julia Smith said — a former NMSU film professor and the filmmaker behind “Birth of the Acid Western.”

Culture

MISSION IMPROVable kills it at ‘Hollywood Murder Mystery’ show

Addison Fulton | September 15

On Thursday, Sept. 11, the University of New Mexico Student Activities Center hosted a Hollywood Murder Mystery with MISSION IMPROVable, a touring comedy improv team, in the Student Union Building. The interactable performance took place at the fictional retirement party of actor Tom Cruise, where the star is tragically murdered. Audience members were given name tags designating them as various celebrities and pop culture figures, such as Zendaya, John Cena, Oprah Winfrey and Bigfoot. Guests were tasked with solving the murder of Cruise through various clues and improv games.

Culture

Stair climb held at University Stadium honors 9/11 victims

Maria Fernandez and Elizabeth Bolke | September 15

On Thursday, Sept. 11, University of New Mexico Reserve Officer Training Corps hosted a memorial stair climb to honor the 2,977 Americans killed during the terrorist attacks committed on Sept. 11, 2001. Led by the UNM Air Force ROTC, the event has been held annually over the last three years in collaboration with the U.S. Army and Navy ROTC branches at UNM, along with support from UNM Athletics, according to Air Force Maj.Vicente Vasquez, UNM associate professor of Aerospace Studies and director of operations for UNM Air Force ROTC. “This year had several firsts, including our first year with local media coverage, first year with a chaplain to provide an opening invocation and first year with a bugler,” Vasquez wrote to the Daily Lobo.

Culture

UNM showcases artwork from Garfield Middle School ‘Circle Keepers’

Lexis Lovato | September 8

The University of New Mexico’s Health Science Campus is currently hosting the artwork made by students who are part of the Garfield STEM Magnet and Community Middle School “Circle Keepers.” The “Circle Keepers” are students working together to provide mentorship to their peers who may struggle with their mental health or need help navigating their personal relationships. The students volunteer their time to the club where they learn about restorative practice. Students focus on relationships and repairing harm, instead of traditional discipline which focuses on broken rules and consequences.

Culture

Grand reopening ceremony held for UNM Duck Pond; students react

Lexis Lovato | September 8

On the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 3, students eagerly gathered around the refurbished University of New Mexico Duck Pond to hear from the board of administration as they unveiled the newly finished construction project. UNM pins and duck-shaped sugar cookies were given away to attendees. UNM President Garnett Stokes addressed the crowd by acknowledging the land’s indigenous history, as well as the tradition that is a result of UNM’s duck pond. “I don't think it's an overstatement to say that the Duck Pond is UNM,” Stokes said. For 50 years now, UNM’s Duck Pond has served as a spot to recharge in between classes, create memories with new friends, study, or end a long night out, Stokes said.

Culture

Guild Cinema celebrates Labor Day with ‘A Day Without a Mexican’

Addison Fulton | September 8

On Labor Day, Sept. 1, the Guild Cinema hosted a screening of Sergio Arau’s 2004 film “A Day Without a Mexican.” The film is shot in a mockumentary style, documenting a time in California where a mysterious fog made all people of Mexican descent suddenly disappear. The film follows many of the people affected by this, including a farmer missing his workforce and his best friend, the farmer’s racist son who celebrates the disappearance, to his father’s chagrin, a newscaster having a tryst with the charismatic Hispanic weather man and a woman searching for her missing husband and son while dodging questions about why her daughter has not disappeared as well.

Culture

Back to school Green Chile Roast supports food pantry

Lexis Lovato | September 1

The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center kicked off the new semester by hosting their third annual Green Chile Roast, which took place on Tuesday, Aug. 26, and was organized by the UNM Alumni Relations Staff. The chile was provided for by Mago's Farm, a local farm in Albuquerque that roasts for UNM. Mago’s Farm frequently appears at local markets like the Downtown Growers’ Market and Rail Yards Market ABQ. The farm provides and roasts the chile on-site themselves, which is then distributed into individual orders by the alumni staff. Mago’s Farm donates all of their services to HSC in order to create more profits for the HSC food bank, Program Manager for Alumni Relations for the UNM School of Medicine, Erika Anderson, said.

Culture

Hypnosis show entrances students

Maria Fernandez | September 1

On Thursday, Aug. 28, hypnotist Zach Pincince performed at the University of New Mexico showcasing his abilities in hypnotizing students. After avid interest from the crowd, Pincince chose to hypnotize the entire group at once, asking students to shut their eyes, listen to the sound of his voice and breathe. During the performance, students entered a hypnotic state, in which any idea Pincince supplied to those hypnotized would become their experience of reality, and that anything he told them would be “unquestionably true” in that state, Pincince said.

Culture

ABQ Backyard Refuge Program hosts informational talk at Blackbird Coffee House

Addison Fulton | August 17

On Aug. 12, Blackbird Coffee House in Old Town hosted a talk with Laurel Ladwig, director of the ABQ Backyard Refuge Program of the Friends of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge and the University of New Mexico R.H. Mallory Center for Community Geography. Sponsored by the Museum of Natural History and Sciences, the event was hosted at Blackbird Coffee House as the museum is closed for renovation. The ABQ Backyard Refuge Program is dedicated to providing information and resources that encourage locals to create landscape spaces friendly to native wildlife. Techniques include planting more native plants, such as any of the more than 250 plants native to the Middle Rio Grande Valley, Albuquerque Metro Area and East Mountain regions.

Culture

Thousands of tarantulas to surface this fall

Leila Chapa | August 11

This year, thousands of tarantulas are predicted to emerge in larger than average numbers throughout New Mexico than the past as male tarantulas leave their burrows, wandering to find a female to mate with. In a statement to the Daily Lobo, Jerome Rovner with the American Arachnological Society wrote that tarantulas mating is an annual occurrence. This year, he said there is predicted to be a higher number of males due to wetter-than-usual weather. “Wetter conditions provide more insect prey to eat and also make digging a burrow in the soil easier — both factors increase the ability for tarantulas to survive and show up in greater numbers than usual,” Rovner wrote.