By Sara Atencio-Gonzales, The Paper – Long before the midway lights, green chile cheeseburgers and rodeos that now mark September in Albuquerque, New Mexicans were already gathering for the fair.
The tradition stretches back to the 1880s, when New Mexico was still a territory. Now, as another State Fair approaches, the Albuquerque Museum is looking back at that history with Fun at the State Fair!, an exhibition exploring how generations of New Mexicans have gathered, competed, performed and celebrated at the fair.
The exhibition features historic objects, photographs and ephemera documenting the Territorial Fair and its evolution into the State Fair celebrated today. Displays touch on familiar attractions including domestic arts, 4-H and Future Farmers of America, parades and the midway.
For Alicia Romero, head curator and curator of history at the Albuquerque Museum, the fair’s story was simply too large to leave as a small piece of another exhibition.
“I decided just to extract that story from the larger narrative and celebrate the State Fair on its own,” says Romero. “If you’re from here, or even if you’re not from here, but if you spent enough time here to have gone to the State Fair, you have your own memories about it.”
Those memories are connected by traditions that have endured for generations. Romero explains that state fairs across the country share staples like carnival rides, baking, canning, sewing, horticulture, livestock, rodeo, farming and art. But New Mexico has developed traditions all its own.
On thing that is “different about our State Fair is that green chili cheeseburger challenge,” says Romero. “We have things that make our State Fair very unique.”
The exhibition also draws from Albuquerque Museum photographs taken at the State Fair from around 1948 through the mid-1950s. The mostly black-and-white images capture parades, children with their animals and scenes from the post World War II fair.
Other objects have spent decades away from public view. Among Romero’s favorites are a bright gold cape and tall hat that she describes as resembling a drum major’s uniform. Displayed alongside parade photographs, the pieces led Romero to picture their wearer marching down Central Avenue generations ago.
The fairgrounds themselves, now known as EXPO New Mexico, are part of that history. Romero emphasizes that many of the older buildings date to the Works Progress Administration era of the late 1930s and were constructed with adobe bricks.
“These are really historic buildings,” says Romero. “I think it’s really important for people to understand that, right? These are historic buildings, and we should take care of them.” The message comes at a time when the state is contemplating what the future of the EXPO New Mexico grounds will be.
Ultimately, Romero hopes visitors leave the museum seeing the State Fair as more than an annual outing.
“It’s a pretty good representation of who we are here,” says Romero. “Everybody in New Mexico is represented in some form or fashion. Your city, your county is represented in the state fair.”
That representation is part of what Romero and the museum sought to capture in the exhibition. With more than a century of history behind it, the fair has changed alongside New Mexico while continuing to bring together communities from across the state.
Fun at the State Fair! is on view at the Albuquerque Museum (2000 Mountain Rd. NW) through Feb. 14, 2027.
If you go…
Fun at the State Fair!
- Aug. 1, 2026 to Feb. 14, 2027
- Albuquerque Museum (2000 Mountain Rd. NW)