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The 2025 New Mexico State Fair could be Albuquerque’s last hurrah for a tradition that has drawn crowds for 87 years, as government leaders weigh relocation mere months before a state-imposed deadline.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has set a March deadline to decide the State Fair’s future, raising the possibility that 2025 could end nearly nine decades of green chile cheeseburgers and Ferris wheel rides in Albuquerque. The debate comes after EXPO New Mexico completed a multi-million dollar renovation on seating for Tingley Coliseum. The facility now braces for the loss of $30 million annually when the Gathering of Nations Powwow ends in 2026.
“We want to make sure that we are identifying the future location of EXPO New Mexico,” Lujan Grisham said last December at a press conference at EXPO New Mexico.
There, she announced the state might relocate the fair and issued a request for proposals for a “master plan” study of the current fairgrounds. That process led to Stantec, a sustainable engineering, architecture and environmental consulting firm, being awarded an $850,000 contract.
Urgency grew after Stantec released early results. The study found neighbors want mixed-use housing and updated buildings near Central and Louisiana avenues. Surveys also showed calls for “safer space and less pavement” around the fairgrounds, which have anchored Albuquerque’s International District since 1938.
“The New Mexico State Fair belongs to all New Mexicans, and all New Mexicans have a voice on the final decision,” said Martin “Marty” Chávez, the former Albuquerque mayor and senior advisor spearheading the governor’s State Fair initiative.
Stantec’s eight-month study is examining three options: retaining the fair in its current location and redeveloping the grounds, relocating the fair and rebuilding the site, or replacing it with mixed-use housing, retail and possibly a new arena. State officials are also weighing relocation outside the city to northern Valencia County, Sandoval County or Albuquerque’s west side.
The State Fairgrounds Tax Increment Development District (TIDD), created earlier this year, can issue up to $500 million in bonds to fund redevelopment in Albuquerque’s International District. Senate Bill 481 established the special tax district, and its board includes Lujan Grisham, Mayor Tim Keller, Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart and other state, county and city leaders.
The Downs Racetrack & Casino would not be included in the TIDD, and would not receive any public infrastructure improvements.
According to Source NM, the board can raise property taxes and use eminent domain (forced government purchase) to buy out business owners in one corner of the fairgrounds, according to the New Mexico State Fair Tax District Board. Bonds would be backed mainly by future gaming taxes from the Downs Racetrack & Casino, which holds a multi-decade lease within the fairgrounds.
A Legislative Finance Committee report estimates the State Fairgrounds District could raise $150 million to $170 million in bonds, about a third of its $500 million authority. That’s based on current bond rates and expected tax revenue, including roughly $600,000 from state gross receipts and $8.5 million from gaming taxes at the Downs Casino.
The report says the exact bond amount won’t be clear until a plan is finished and a developer is chosen. It also notes that repaying $500 million would need $750 million in annual taxable activity, far more than the area has seen historically.
The Case for Leaving Albuquerque
Speaking for the State Fair initiative, Chávez presented a damning economic analysis of the fair’s impact on Albuquerque.
“We can’t find any evidence of a positive economic impact” from the fair to surrounding neighborhoods, Chávez said. State analysis found that “only one of the full-time benefited employees at the fair actually lives in the area,” and fairgoers “certainly don’t eat in the neighborhoods around it because they’re eating at the fair.”
He questioned whether parking is the best use of the “250 acres in the middle of the city” when asked about businesses that rely on fair parking revenue.
He said the governor launched the initiative after residents raised safety concerns about “kids walking across hypodermic needles” and “horrific drug use, homicide, cartel activity and human prostitution.”
According to Chávez, property values in the area are about a third lower than the rest of Bernalillo County, which he said reflects concentrated poverty.
Mesa del Sol, one of the locations rumored to be a potential site, is no longer being considered. “Mesa del Sol is probably not on the table at this point,” he said, because the developers “don’t want the fair, because they think the fair will degrade the area.”
With that option off the table, potential sites now lie outside city limits. “The governor is committed to keeping it in Central New Mexico, and there’s really only a handful of potential sites, and they include northern Valencia County, the Westside and Sandoval County,” Chávez said.
The state promises major changes if the fair relocates. Redevelopment could generate “between $2 and $4 billion of new jobs and economic activity” in the area, Chávez said, far exceeding the fair’s current contribution.
Stantec, which developed master plans for Netflix’s Mesa del Sol campus and the Colorado State Fair, is conducting community outreach to gather stakeholder input.
The Defense of Albuquerque
City Councilor Nichole Rogers, who sits on the State Fairgrounds District Board overseeing redevelopment funding, defends keeping the fair in Albuquerque.
“People love coming from other rural areas to the big city to the fair,” Rogers said, recalling visits to Albuquerque as a child from Santa Fe with her grandfather. “We already have the hotels. We already have the ability to handle all the traffic. We have all of the things here.”
She disputes Chávez’s economic analysis. “I think it depends on what segment of our community you’re talking about,” she said. While she agrees the area needs investment, she said Chávez focuses on “business development” while she looks at “social determinants of health.”
Rogers envisions modernizing the fair in Albuquerque while redeveloping the surrounding area. “My dream is that we could do both,” she said. “We could look at the space. We could modernize the fair where it is.”
She cites Albuquerque’s advantages over potential relocation sites, including established hotels, restaurants, parking and transportation networks built over 87 years.
Rogers represents constituents directly affected by a potential move. She described “a mixed kind of bag” of opinions in her district, but said “a lot of those folks want to see investment in the area” rather than losing the fair.
The fair’s cultural significance extends beyond economics, she said. It represents Albuquerque’s role as a gateway between urban and rural New Mexico, bringing agricultural communities together with city residents in a way relocation would eliminate.
Decision Timeline and Authority
The authority structure complicates Albuquerque’s future as the fair host. “The State Fair Commission has the legal authority to make that decision” about relocation, Chávez said, while Rogers’ TIDD board controls up to $500 million in redevelopment bonds for the area.
That creates a crucial dynamic: the commission could move the fair, but Rogers’ board controls the funds that would transform the vacated site.
Timeline pressure raises the stakes. The process “can be measured in months, not years,” Chávez said, driven by the governor’s March legislative session deadline for appropriations.
Practical constraints remain. “There’s no way that a new facility could be built capable of hosting the fair in a year,” Chávez said – meaning any relocation would likely start in 2026, making 2025 potentially the final Albuquerque fair.
Rogers had predicted the fair would remain “for at least the next five to six years” based on slow government processes, but now acknowledges the accelerated timeline driven by the governor’s urgency.
Losing Two Major Events
Expo New Mexico faces mounting losses that strengthen arguments for leaving Albuquerque. The Gathering of Nations Powwow, which brought an estimated $24 to 30 million in direct economic impact each year, announced its 2026 finale after 43 years.
Just months earlier, Derek Matthews, the powwow’s founder, had advocated for keeping major events at the fairgrounds.
“We bring the world to your neighborhood, and that needs to stay,” Matthews said in February. He added the annual tribal powwow brings $1 million or more into the fairgrounds each year, emphasizing that it’s not just money that’s recycled through the community.
The powwow’s ending offers a stark parallel to the fair’s potential departure. After four decades as North America’s largest powwow, organizers declared “there comes a time” and chose to end the event rather than continue elsewhere.
Dan Mourning, Expo New Mexico’s general manager, called the loss “a tough blow for our economy” and said it represents both financial and cultural setbacks for Albuquerque.
He described the powwow as a “perfect event being held on perfect grounds” and said he has already received emails and phone calls from people who are asking for a similar cultural event.
“I’m hoping that things will matriculate down the road here a little bit, get over the shock of them leaving,” Mourning said.
Losing both events within a year would eliminate over $50 million in annual economic activity from the current Albuquerque site, raising questions about the venue’s viability and strengthening arguments for redevelopment.
The Renovation Irony
The potential departure of the State Fair underscores coordination failures within state government.
Expo New Mexico spent $2 million on renovations at Tingley Coliseum even as the governor’s office considered relocating the fair.
“I’ve put more money over the years into that, but our latest was $2 million in new seating and upgrading the HVAC system, as well as just completely redoing the corridors, painting and resurfacing things, making it really much nicer than it was,” said Mourning.
“I’m not sure they saw this initiative coming when they first appropriated the money for it,” said Mourning.
The project, which addressed safety issues with seating and electrical systems, began “well over a year ago,” while relocation planning was already underway.
The state has invested nearly $10 million in Tingley Coliseum since 1999, all potentially lost if the fair leaves Albuquerque.
Mourning said the renovations were essential. “This is a much more comfortable situation that we’re in, and it’s much more television-friendly with having the [New Mexico] Chupacabras, [formerly the Duke City] Gladiators, coming back with indoor football. I mean, Tingley might have a little longevity going on there. It’s an older arena, but, man, we put some pretty dadgum good lipstick on the old pig.”
Mourning said he has long advocated for a new arena, calling a modern 10 to 12,000-seat facility “critical for the success and growth of Albuquerque.”
He pointed to the city’s central location and a 2017 feasibility study as reasons for its potential. “I would love to see that happen at the fairgrounds, especially since the fairgrounds are right on the Mother Road, Central Avenue, and have great ingress and egress out of the property. Remember, we already have an arena,” he said.
Chavez said the upgrades were necessary for safety, but could not explain the lack of communication between state agencies planning the fair’s potential departure and those funding Albuquerque infrastructure.
Economic Development vs. Cultural Preservation
The deeper conflict centers on competing visions for Albuquerque’s future. Chavez and the governor’s team see the fairgrounds as underused land ripe for redevelopment that could transform one of the city’s most challenged areas.
Rogers supports a hybrid approach that preserves Albuquerque’s role as fair host while redeveloping the surrounding neighborhood.
“This could be an arts and culture sector for our community, and I just want us to think big and think about how we could really be intentional about this and make it something that pulls everybody up and not pushes people out,” she said.
The economic promises of redevelopment are consequential but uncertain. While Chavez projects $2 to 4 billion in new activity, Rogers said much of it represents temporary construction jobs rather than long-term employment for residents.
“If we don’t get this right, it’s not going to really help the folks that are in poverty,” she said, emphasizing the need for “poverty alleviation strategies that will spur economic growth” instead of development that displaces existing residents.
Why Albuquerque’s Era May Be Ending
Multiple factors make 2025 potentially the last State Fair in Albuquerque.
The governor’s limited time in office adds urgency to achieving a signature accomplishment. State officials argue the fair contributes little to surrounding neighborhoods while limiting more productive land use.
Mesa del Sol’s rejection removes a viable Albuquerque site, leaving only options outside the city that would require major new infrastructure. The Gathering of Nations’ departure also eliminates a key anchor tenant, weakening Expo New Mexico’s viability as an entertainment destination and bolstering redevelopment arguments.
Timing is perhaps the biggest hurdle. Any relocation would take years to complete, potentially severing the fair’s long-standing connection to Albuquerque.
The Verdict
Political pressure, economic analysis and practical constraints suggest (though far from guarantee) 2025 could mark the end of the State Fair’s 87-year run in Albuquerque.
While Rogers advocates modernizing the fair within the city, momentum favors relocating to sites outside Albuquerque that offer more space and fewer challenges.
The March legislative deadline adds urgency, potentially forcing a decision before all options are explored. Still, safety concerns, redevelopment promises, and infrastructure limits point to the city’s time as a host of the fair drawing to a close.
Whether the fair thrives in a new location or loses its character remains uncertain. What seems increasingly clear is that 2025 may be one of the final chapters in a tradition that has shaped Albuquerque’s cultural identity for nearly a century.
The State Fairgrounds District Board meets in September, after the 2025 fair, when the community may learn more about whether they witnessed Albuquerque’s last State Fair.
The Last Hurrah is a story from The Paper.. Publishing from New Mexico’s largest city, The Paper is your source for local, independent news, covering politics, arts, culture, and events.
