Rio Rancho's community turned out this weekend to celebrate the season at the city's annual Fall Festival, trading an outdoor park setting for the shelter of the Rio Rancho Events Center after rain concerns forced a last-minute venue change. Attendees came dressed for the spooky spirit of the day, with activities in the arena and its parking lot, along with live music, artisan vendors and food trucks.
The event, scheduled to run Saturday from 2 to 8 p.m. at 3001 Civic Center Circle NE, had originally been planned for Campus Park, according to Sandoval Signpost. Due to weather concerns, the city moved the celebration indoors. As KRQE News 13 reported, this year's Fall Festival was partially moved indoors to the Events Center because of rain.
A Packed Lineup Despite the Switch
Activities ran both inside the arena and out in the front parking lot, per the same Sandoval Signpost account, with a Children's Cakewalk set for 2 to 5 p.m. and pumpkin carving scheduled from 2 to 6 p.m. A costume contest was planned for 5 p.m., followed by trunk-or-treat at 6 p.m. Festival attendees could also enjoy live music and browse artisan vendors throughout the afternoon and evening, according to the seed facts behind KRQE's report.
Admission was free, and organizers said they needed participants with enough candy for roughly 2,500 kids, the Signpost noted. The mix of food trucks, carnival-style attractions and a dedicated market has become a hallmark of the event — the 2025 festival, planned for Campus Park, had featured a similar roster of live music, food trucks, pumpkin carving, carnival games and the debut of an Autumn Artisan's Market, with food trucks at the festival that year.
City Parks Director Touts Community Payoff
Connie Peterson, Rio Rancho's director of parks and recreation, said the festival brings citizens together to enjoy fall activities, costumes, food and candy. She said events like this one improve quality of life and make living in Rio Rancho fun. Organizers said about 6,000 people attend the event every year, underscoring the Fall Festival's standing as one of the city's bigger annual community gatherings.
Weather Has Reshaped This Event Before
This year's move to the Events Center continues a recent trend of weather disrupting the festival's plans. The 2024 Fall Festival, held Oct. 19 that year, was slow for attendance when doors opened at the Rio Rancho Events Center, according to the Rio Rancho Observer. That event was held partly indoors and outdoors because the festival's usual location was under construction at the time, and the Observer reported that the day itself brought rain, thunderstorms and strong winds.
City Councilor Deb Dapson attributed the lower-than-usual 2024 turnout partly to that stormy weather, and also to some confusion over the celebration's date, per the Observer's reporting. Despite the shifting venues and conditions from year to year, the festival has kept a consistent core lineup — pumpkin carving, live music, food trucks and vendor markets — that organizers have leaned on to maintain the event's draw even when the weather doesn't cooperate.
