¡Reserva las fechas! Save the dates!
Festival Sefardí 2026: A Tapestry of New Mexico Identity
May 21-24
Schedule (still evolving) / Programa en Español (todavía en evolución)
Tickets
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Festival Sefardí is New Mexico’s only annual celebration of the unique history and culture of the Sefardic Jews in the Southwest. This May, we celebrate our 17th year and are excited about this year’s program!
The descendants of Jews who arrived in New Mexico in the late 16th century, fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, known today as the "Conversos," "Anusim," "crypto-Jews," or "Hidden Jews"—constitute a significant but often overlooked portion of New Mexico’s Hispanic population.
During the weekend, an extraordinary group of artists and scholars will help illuminate this profound history, alongside its significance on New Mexico’s multicultural expression.
Research and public dialogue will be emphasized, including topics such as Coyotes y Genizaros: Caste, Under-Class, and Peonage in Contemporary Nuevo Mexico, and a discussion on Diaspora and Querencia with Camilla Bustamante and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb.
The schedule includes ample time for reflection, conversation, movement, and creativity, encouraging participants to share and process their feelings and insights throughout the weekend. Anthony Fleg will facilitate a writing workshop called Writing to Heal, following an experimental somatic exploration on the themes of paradox and multiplicity with Evie Vigil & Blanca Stacy Villalobos of Song Dog Relations.
Other highlights include Fragments of Ritual and Memory, an art show curated by Janelle Worthington Cardenas which will investigate the resilience and healing of conflicting Nuevo Mexicano ancestry, through diverse artistic mediums installed in the Nahalat Shalom Gallery. There will also be an interactive ritual performance featuring Spanish translations of Indigenous poets by Sandra Marroquín-Evans and Sarah Hogland-Gurulé, and a phenomenal closing concert by The Sephardic Borderlands Ensemble, whose sound is a unique integration of Sephardic Jewish hymns with New Mexican and Borderlands style, rhythm and music.
About Casa Sefarad:
Casa Sefarad reclaims and sustains Sefardic Jewish heritage through education, arts, and community engagement. We empower our community to recover its narrative, share its artistry, and inspire future generations. Casa Sefarad serves the Sefardic community in New Mexico, which primarily includes Hispanic, Latinx, crypto-Jewish, Converso, Mizrahi, Jews of Color and those of mixed lineages existing at the margins of the diaspora. Towards these ends we host monthly bilingual Shabbat services, poetry readings, and are launching El centro de estudios sefarditas, The Sefardic Learning Center at Nahalat Shalom.
2026 Festival Presenters (click on image for individual bio)
In this 90 min experiential workshop, we will disrupt the myth of a fixed identity and explore the wisdom of multiplicity through writing, reflection, deep listening and gentle improvisation. Examining a few instances of holy contradiction in our respective lineages, we make way for the world that is coming by witnessing self and others in totality. Embracing the tension of opposing forms and what exists in-between, with curiosity and inevitability. This workshop will involve partnered somatic explorations including movement and vocalization, solo practice, and group reflections.
Limited capacity workshop, open to all, priority to folks from NM.
photos by mk
