Camino de los Burros: March 2026

Friday, March 27, 2026

The third annual "Camino de los Burros" is a procession in honor of Santa Fe and New Mexico's burros, past and present. We will walk around the plaza and through Burro Alley, following in the hoof prints of thousands of long ago donkeys, who worked tirelessly for their masters, carrying big burdens, which mostly consisted of enormous bundles of firewood they had brought down from the mountains. We will lay a wreath at the statue of a donkey at the south end of Burro Alley in their memory. Music by the "Hee Haw Trio," featuring Steff Chanat (Mandolin), Laura Robbins (flute) and Noland Harmon (guitar.) There will be a "meet and greet" with the donkeys back at the Cathedral parking lot on Cathedral way, after the procession. We ask folks not to crowd the donkeys along the route, but you can say hi to them and take your pictures with them at the meet and greet. Thanks for coming out to support the burros!

A burro of today, meets the statue honoring Santa Fe's Donkeys, at Burro Alley. When New Mexico shall have become a state, the faithful burro should be engraven on the coat of arms as an emblem of all the cardinal virtues.
W. W. H. Davis, "El Gringo, New Mexico and her people." 1857 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This processions is in honor of New Mexico's donkeys, past and present. May 8th is World Donkey Day. Burros have been an integral part of New Mexico's history, ever since they came north along the Camino Real from Mexico with Oñate and the first Spanish settlers. They were true beasts of burden, the blue collar workers of the equine family, and the helpmate and virtual slave to poorer New Mexicans. Carrying weights equal to over 25% of their body weight, there was virtually nothing that couldn't be strapped to the back of one of these diminutive creatures. Many times, the loads were so large, in most cases piles of firewood, that the only things left visible of the donkey were its nose, ears, tail and four little hoofs. Burros were a ubiquitous sight in Santa Fe streets all the way up to the 1930s. Some standing, fully loaded, others laying down on dusty streets, resting their bones in the sunshine. Many memoirs, letters and diaries of visitors to, or residents of, Santa Fe included at least a few sentences devoted to the burro. With our modern day burros, we walk these same streets where thousands of unsung donkey heroes once walked, and remember their enormous contribution.

West San Francisco Street

Burro Alley

On the Santa Fe Plaza

Palace of the Governors