Snow in Colorado, high water here!
It’s summer in the Rockies and the High Desert ain’t no desert at all. So if you are experiencing a heatwave or just want to getaway from the everyday, a trip to Taos might be just the ticket for you!
A world unto itself, a slightly foreign affair (it’s Latin America up here after all) without the need for a visa, New Mexico’s High Country is the best kept (not so) secret (anymore) destination for those in the know! And summer just got better up here where the air is clean and probably ten degrees cooler than wherever you are! (In the Northern Hemisphere.)
As if the landscape and the light, the art, food and culture were not enough, the Town of Taos (In collaboration with AMP), has upped its game to bring some of the best music around, to our little town. Starting this 4th of July Weekend and culminating with Sting on Labor Day Weekend, Taos is the new music hotspot!
Kicking off this summer of music, the Town of Taos Presents: the 4th of July Hometown Celebration at Kit Carson Park. Celebrate the 4th of July with WAR and Ozomatli for FREE and enjoy the full holiday weekend in Taos with additional concerts on July 5 and 6 for only $59! | Buy the $59 Weekend Pass
July 4th thru July 6th
Thursday, July 4, 2019 4:30pm / WAR and Ozomatli (FREE!)
3:30pm: Gates open
Friday, July 5, 2019 5:00pm / Lake Street Dive with Jake Shimabukuro
4:30pm: Gates open
Saturday, July 6, 2019 6:30pm / The Mavericks & Los Lobos
5:00pm: Gates open
How fabulous is this? It just gets better folks! Next the Taos Vortex arrives with its psychedelic carney vibes; a must for fun-spirited creatives seeking an intimate music festival setting that boasts a lineup of genre-defining artists.
The “Vortex”, an immersive art and music festival masterminded by Meow Wolf (the Santa Fe-based art collective that focuses on exploration of imagination while celebrating the unconstrained expression of art). returns this summer to Kit Carson Park in Taos for its second year.
The festival’s inaugural 2018 event featuring headliners The Flaming Lips, drew about 5,000 ticket holders and this year, organizers are aiming for no more than 6,000 per day, This year’s lineup features 35 popular DJs and artists, including Calexico and Iron & Wine. If you hope to be amongst the featured DJs one year, you might want to consider making use of something like dj finance in order to get hold of all the necessary equipment to start off your music career on the right note.
Vortex attendees will be treated to performances by CocoRosie, Flying Lotus 3D, George Clinton, Lykke Li, Nick Murphy FKA Chet Faker, Zhu, Claude VonStroke, Wajatta, Mija, Empress Of, Desert Hearts, Soulection, and many more.
The immersive three-day experience kicks off Aug. 16 at Kit Carson Park. The event includes live music, adventure, experimental interactions and other distractions!
Meow Wolf, which calls itself as an ‘immersive experiences’ company, opened its signature House of Eternal Return exhibit in 2016. Since then, it has announced expansion projects in Washington, D.C.; Phoenix; Denver; and Las Vegas, Nev.
The now-three-day Taos festival could be the first of even more Meow Wolf-branded outdor festivals throughout the country.
Taos Vortex is “our cornerstone event, for sure,” says Max Beck-Keller, the company’s events director. “We’re definitely thinking about building on this outside of New Mexico – perhaps in Nevada in the future, in particular.” No surprise there as the State is also home to the annual Burning Man extravaganza.
Taos Vortex is scheduled for Aug. 16-18. This year’s festival is headlined by seven eclectic acts. Grammy-nominated electronic music producer Flying Lotus will perform with a live-directed 3D light show that includes onstage holograms.
Indie act Nick Murphy (formerly known as Chet Faker) will take the stage, as will Lykke Li, queen of ethereal pop rock. Electronic artist Zhu, house DJ Claude VonStroke and Washington, D.C.-area rapper Goldlink round out the top billing.
Funk legend George Clinton, Tex-Mex rockers Calexico, and Iron & Wine are also slated to perform, along with a host of other alternative and indie artists.
New this year will be the festival’s second stage, “the Glade,” a grassy meadow that will allow guests to be part of the show. Nearby, organizers have dreamed up art-installation neighborhoods, each with a sculptural hut as its focal point, peopled with characters to lure you in. Across the park, the Spire stage, a cathedral-like citadel is designed “to inspire reverence.”
The festival offers camping and glamping options for out-of-towners as well as a series of excursions into the surrounding countryside, including a brewery tour, a cave tour and hot air balloon rides.
Clearly, unlike most traditional music festivals, the Taos Vortex is as much about the experience as it is the music.
For the full Taos Vortex 2019 lineup, for tickets and more info, please visit:
All images (c) Taos Vortex, Town of Taos and Los Lobos
