The city’s biggest annual event is Santa Fe Indian Market (505/983-5220, www.swaia.org), when 1,200 Native American artisans present their jewelry, pottery, weaving, and other wares, varying from the most traditional forms to wildly inventive ones. Tented booths fill the plaza and surrounding streets, and the city swells with about 100,000 visitors. It’s a bit of a frenzy during the selling proper, for one weekend near the end of August, but the atmosphere is festive, as the booths are augmented by free music and dance performances and the Native Roots and Rhythms festival (www.nrrfestival.com) at the Paolo Soleri amphitheater.

Along similar lines is Spanish Market (505/982-2226, www.spanishmarket.org), the last weekend in July. Emphasis is primarily on traditional crafts, with New Mexico’s most respected santeros and santeras selling their work alongside weavers, tinworkers, and furniture makers.

Finally, the International Folk Art Market (505/476-1166, www.folkartmarket.org) showcases traditional crafts from all over the globe. Expect Bhutanese textiles, handcrafted French knives, and South African beadwork, all contributing to the largest international market in the United States. Unlike the other two markets, this one takes place off the plaza, on Museum Hill, so the city is a bit less disrupted.

After all the frenzy of summer tourism, locals celebrate the arrival of the calmer fall season with the Burning of Zozobra (www.zozobra.com), a neopagan bonfire on the Thursday after Labor Day that’s as much a part of Santa Fe’s social calendar as the opera season. The ritual kicks off the weeklong Fiesta de Santa Fe (505/988-7575, www.santafefiesta.org), which commemorates De Vargas’s reoccupation of the city in 1693 after the Pueblo Revolt. The event, which has been celebrated in some form since 1712, is marked with a reenactment of De Vargas’s entrada into the city and then a whole slew of balls and parades, including the Historical/Hysterical Parade and a children’s pet parade—eccentric Santa Fe at its finest.

Rodeo Road on the south side of town isn’t a nod to Beverly Hills—there really is an annual Rodeo de Santa Fe (3237 Rodeo Rd., 505/471-4300, www.rodeodesantafe.org), which takes place near the end of June. Expect to see all the competitive events such as barrel racing and bull riding, as well as goofy clowns, trick-ropers, and a kids’ “mutton-busting” show. The event opens with a big parade of everyone in his or her best cowboy regalia.

Foodies flock to the city in late September for the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Festival (505/438-8060, www.santafewineandchile.org), five days of tastings and special dinners at various venues around town.

Those who want to just drink, not eat, can attend the Santa Fe Wine Festival (www.santafewinefestival.com), which takes place on the Fourth of July weekend at Rancho de las Golondrinas and showcases New Mexican wine producers.