It’s easy to forget the bounty of cultural offerings a city like Santa Fe offers.

Upon hearing “festival,” some people are reminded of the Medieval Latin word festivalis, referring to a feast.

Some of the city’s top art festivals might be well over the hill, but with an influx of fresh faces on the cultural scene, don’t relegate them to RainbowVision just yet.

Despite the vibrant visual-art scene in town, the local art world is not limited to galleries and museums, paintings and sculptures.

Steady on, Santa Fe. Summer’s nearly here, bringing world-class music festivals, out-there programming and, uh-oh, potential cultural overload.

Gisela Genschow grew up in Hamburg, Germany’s major port city and home to The Hamburg Ballet.

It’s late May, but the summer movie season is upon us.

Last Wednesday, Santa Fe Clay director Avra Leodas posted a message on her company’s Facebook page.

In Santa Fe, summer has a sort of springlike effect on the arts scene. As soon as May loses its last vestige of winter, every corner of the city suddenly bursts with art. The galleries and museums blossom with new exhibits; the Plaza hums with the reverberations of the popular, twice-daily Bandstand music festival; the Railyard plays host to outdoor movies and concerts; the opera attracts aficionados from all over the globe; the libraries and bookstores and parks and summer camps offer various artistic outlets for hordes of children blissfully free of classes and homework.

In fact, Santa Fe’s summer arts scene is so extensive that we found it necessary to dedicate an entire special issue to helping you navigate the season’s festivities. In these pages, you’ll find local arts leaders’ recommendations for don’t-miss events, and you’ll gain some perspective on the work it takes to bring those events to Santa Fe. We don’t mind if you rip out the festival calendar on page 22; you may need it to keep track of all the major festivals slated to hit our city this year. Parents, we haven’t forgotten about you (or your children)—on page 21, find a rundown of all the great activities that let Santa Fe’s kids express themselves, artistically and otherwise. And if your idea of a perfect summer afternoon involves lolling in De Vargas Park, just within earshot of the Cowgirl’s band du jour, that’s fine, too.

Having spoken with concert promoter Jamie Lenfestey of Heath Concerts for the Santa Fe Manual, I figured I should speak to his counterpart at T-Cubed Productions, Tim Franke, for the summer arts preview. This dude has been booking great shows for a few years now and, as we head into summer, he’s got more great stuff and some good advice for our community.