Sunflower Festival provides golden day

The Manzano Mountain Art Council is in the final stages of planning for its annual Mountainair Sunflower Festival, which will take place on Saturday, Aug. 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Mountainair.

This free event, which benefits the MMAC, headlines an arts and crafts show featuring local and regional artists and artisans.

Live entertainment plays all day by musical groups Rye Creek, playing 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and John Paul and Thomas Bromley from 1 to 3 p.m.

Other events during the day include an art raffle; sunflower hat contest at 12:45 p.m.; lots of street vendors, fun things for kids and a walking tour of Mountainair murals and mosaics.

New this year is an interactive sunflower mural where guests are invited to paint on canvas with some of Mountainair’s artists to create a permanent mural of sunflowers for the town. The mural is located on the side of Cibola Arts Gallery, 217 W. Broadway.

iCreate, in partnership with MMAC, welcomes kids to make giant paper dolls of themselves, then decorate them with a sunflower crown.

Other things to see include the New Mexico Van of Enchantment mobile history exhibit, which will be parked at the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument park office, just off Broadway.

Please visit www.ountainairSunflowerFestival.org for more information or call the Sunflower Festival message line at 505-847-2205.

The Mountainair Sunflower Festival is sponsored by the non-profit Manzano Mountain Art Council and is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.