The Santa Fe Indian Market is the city's biggest and most prestigious event. Held on the third weekend in August every year, Indian Market draws more than 100,000 collectors, gallery owners and fans of Indian art from around the world. The crowds buy art directly from more than 1,200 artists representing over 100 tribes.

Indian Market takes place August 21-22, 2010.

Indian Market is the only event of its kind. Buyers return to Santa Fe year after year to visit with artists, shop the 600 booths set up on the Santa Fe Plaza, and attend the many art openings held in galleries across the city. More openings are held in Santa Fe during Indian Market than during any other time in the year.

Presented by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) and held on the Santa Fe Plaza, Indian Market began in 1922 as the first annual Southwest Indian Fair, with 3,500 works, including pottery, baskets, textiles, silver work, beadwork and paintings.

Since then, the event has grown into the world's largest market of Native American art, featuring jewelry, textiles, baskets, beadwork, quillwork, pueblo wooden carvings, sculpture, drums, hides, leather goods and more.

Many of the visitors who attend the market each year develop close friendships with the artists whose work they collect. And it's not unusual to see generations of the same artistic families exhibiting their work together, demonstrating the admired ability to create treasured traditional as well as cutting-edge contemporary pieces.

Each year, Indian Market includes an awards ceremony and an auction gala as well as a Native American clothing contest, Native Cinema Showcase and Native Root and Rhythms, featuring performances of indigenous music, dance, storytelling and comedy. There are also plenty of food booths offering fry bread, Navajo tacos, roasted corn and other native treats.

Visit SWAIA's website to learn more.