💜 Albuquerque Turns Purple This Weekend + 13 More Family Adventures

👋 Good morning, Albuquerque! This weekend Los Ranchos smells like a spa day, a North Valley farm is bursting with sunflowers, and a West Side restaurant with a name-origin story you won’t believe.

Inside this week: the Southwest’s largest lavender festival returns to Balloon Fiesta Park, Big Jim Farms is turning into a sea of sunflowers, and we’re sharing a few family-friendly spots worth adding to your weekend plans.

This Saturday marks the 20th Annual Lavender in the Village, and if you've never been, it's one of Albuquerque's biggest summer festivals. Balloon Fiesta Park fills with more than 120 local vendors selling everything from fresh lavender and handmade soaps to art, plants, and gifts.

What started as a small community event has grown into the largest lavender festival in the Southwest. Hosted by the Rio Grande Community Farm, the festival celebrates New Mexico's lavender growers, local makers, and small businesses, with proceeds helping support the farm's educational programs and community work throughout the year.

There are plenty of reasons your kids will love it too. They'll find lavender-themed games, hands-on activities, music, and a special Play Parachute session just for little ones while you wander the vendor booths or grab a bite from one of the food trucks. If your family likes exploring local festivals, this is one that's worth adding to your weekend plans.

When: Saturday, July 25, 8am–3pm
Where: Balloon Fiesta Park – Multi-Use Facility, 5000 Balloon Fiesta Pkwy NE
Cost: $12 adults in advance ($15 at the door), $5 kids. Tickets at lavenderinthevillage.org

MORE THIS WEEKEND

Friday, July 24

Saturday, July 25

Sunday, July 26

If your kids have never picked their own bouquet straight out of a field, this is the weekend to fix that. For a short time each summer, Big Jim Farms transforms into a sea of yellow sunflowers, colorful zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, and New Mexico wildflowers. The Sunflower U-Pick is open July 6 through August 10, giving families a few weeks to get outside, and experience a real working farm without leaving Albuquerque.

The farm is owned by Jim Wagner, a third-generation New Mexico farmer whose family has been growing green chile in the North Valley for more than a century. Today, Big Jim Farms continues that tradition by growing organically without sprays or chemicals.

Admission to walk around the farm is free, so families can take their time exploring the flower fields, visiting the farm animals, browsing the farm stand, or packing a picnic to enjoy under the shade. If you want to take home your own bouquet, the U-Pick experience is $20 and includes everything you need: a mason jar, supplies, and the chance to pick your own sunflowers, zinnias, marigolds, and cosmos.

The farm stand is also worth a stop, with fresh produce, honey, salsa, and other local goodies available. They also accept EBT and participate in Double Up Food Bucks, making it easier for more families to enjoy fresh local food.

When: Open daily, 8am–6pm
Where: 3521 Rio Grande Blvd NW
Cost: Free to visit; pay only for what you pick. More info at bigjimfarms.com

Finding a restaurant that works for the whole family isn’t always easy, especially when everyone wants something different. That’s where Rio Grande Social shines. Located on the West Side, this spacious restaurant has a menu with something for just about everyone, from burgers and wood-fired pizzas to pasta, tacos, salads, and brunch favorites. They also offer a kids menu, making it an easy choice for families with picky eaters or kids who want their own familiar favorites.

But the story behind Rio Grande Social is what makes the restaurant stand out. When it opened in March 2024, it transformed an overlooked corner of Coors and Seven Bar Loop into a new gathering place for the West Side. Before the restaurant was built, the property was essentially an unused drainage pond next to the shopping center.

Co-owners Yogesh Patel and Art Gardenswartz spent years working with the city to redesign the drainage area and turn the space into something new. As Gardenswartz put it, they “created some land that wasn’t here.”

Even the restaurant’s name has a story. It was originally planned to be called Rio Grande Tavern, but New Mexico liquor laws define a tavern as a place where alcohol is the main focus and food is secondary, which didn’t fit the vision for the restaurant. Instead, they chose Rio Grande Social, a name that better represents what they wanted to create: a place centered around food, community, and bringing people together.

Where: 10127 Coors Blvd NW
Hours: Mon–Thu 11am–8:30pm, Fri 11am–9:30pm, Sat 8:30am–9:30pm, Sun 8:30am–8:30pm
Website: riograndesocial.com

Know a spot every ABQ family should have on their list?

Hit reply to this email and send us your Parent Pick of the Week. Tell us what makes it special.

We will feature your pick in next weeks issue!

The best finds in this city don't come from ads. They come from parents within our community.

Every week we do the digging so ABQ parents don't have to. If this saved you some time, pass it along to another family in the group chat, the carpool line, or your neighborhood page.

Or just forward this email to a friend. That works too.