Santa Fe Creative Tourism 2011

Getting to know a place one visits can take many paths. While active involvement always beats a passive approach, the creative way may be best of all. Learning about art while creating it. Discovering culture while living it. Exploring local cuisine while making it. This hands on, immersive method is the defining concept of creative tourism and something Santa Fe has been refining and excelling at for years.

There are more than 100 different experiences visitors can take part in to discover more about Santa Fe. From the city's traditional art forms to its varied cultural influences to the spiritual side, many of the city's artists, writers, and practitioners offer meaningful and memorable ways to learn about Santa Fe throughout the year.

Because of its intensely creative population, Santa Fe has long provided these sorts of opportunities for visitors and locals alike. However, since 2005 when Santa Fe was named UNESCO's first Creative City in the U.S., the number of offerings has increased and the city has taken on an international leadership role, encouraging and teaching other communities to provide similar resources.

In Santa Fe, the number and types of creative tourism classes, one-on-one courses, voluntourism projects, workshops, and activities being offered are now more than any one lifetime could hold. Many of these experiences connect directly to Santa Fe's long and varied history, illuminating through instruction the traditions that keep the city's diverse heritage alive. Other activities are derived from different places and cultures or come from modern aspects of Santa Fe.

Regardless of an individual's interests, there is likely an appealing creative tourism experience available, from which a greater understanding of Santa Fe can be gained. Examples include writing, painting, music, and dance workshops, vine to wine classes, adobe church restoration, birding excursions, geology horseback tours, weaving and fiber arts, photography instruction, and cooking classes. For more on creative tourism and the ever expanding number of opportunities, visit www.santafecreativertourism.org.