Christmas On The Pecos, More Than Just a Boat Ride

By Misty Cryer

A preview of this year’s Christmas on the Pecos event was delivered by Jill Barkley, Tourism Director of Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, at an AARP meeting at North Mesa Senior Center on November 18. She also shared a little history about how Christmas on the Pecos came to be.

The event has been expanding each year over the last four years to become “More Than Just a Boat Ride” to keep locals engaged while sticking to the initial goal of bringing more tourists to Carlsbad during the winter months.

“Christmas on the Pecos started 33 years ago,” Barkley said. To answer the question, “What was there to do during the winter months that was going to bring tourists to Carlsbad?” Barkley said, “A group of business leaders, spearheaded by Mike Calvani, got together.” From this effort, “Christmas on the Pecos was born,” she said.

“I came onto the Chamber four years ago. For 29 years, Christmas on the Pecos was just a boat ride,” Barkley said. In her interview with the CEO, she was asked what she would do in the role in charge of Christmas on the Pecos. She said, “We really have to enhance this event.”

The first enhancement was adding weekend events to draw out locals and enhance the experience for tourists, Barkley said. “This event starts the day after Thanksgiving and goes until December 31,” she added.

On the first weekend, “The kickoff after Thanksgiving, Halagueno Arts Park has a big event in the park; Carlsbad Mainstreet does the relative light parade on that Saturday. What we do is that Friday and Saturday, we have Shopping Under the Stars,” said Barkley. “We have about 20 vendors that come out and set under the bumper car pavilion. There are food trucks out there, so it is just a huge shopping weekend. That opening weekend is our largest weekend; tons of people are there. Locals come out and usually do Calico Christmas during the day and come over to Christmas on the Pecos that evening,” she said.

“That Saturday night, when the electric light parade ends at the beach area, we have a huge tree lighting ceremony. Last year, we brought on a new 26-foot tree,” Barkley said.

“The next weekend, December 6 and 7, is our Winter and Wine Festival,” Barkley said. “If you are not familiar with that, it is a wine-tasting event. Friday night is a VIP experience. It has become one of the premiere events in Carlsbad. When our tickets go on sale, they sell out in about 15 minutes or less,” she said.

“December 14 and 15 is Balloons on the Pecos. This was new; last year, we introduced this,” said Barkley explaining it is a weekend filled with hot air balloons glowing along the Pecos River. “We also have food trucks and vendors out there that weekend. We’ve been going to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for about three years promoting Carlsbad; we just thought it would be cool to bring balloons to Carlsbad,” she said, adding that it was the second largest weekend of Christmas on the Pecos.

“On December 20 and 21, we’re going to have our Weekend With Santa. Basically, that weekend is going to be all things Santa. It’s the weekend right before Christmas. We will have Santa Claus out there. We’ll do pictures with Santa. There will be a station where kids can make their own ornament, with another station where they can write a letter to Santa with their wish list. We have a mailbox out there that they can put their letter in. We’ll have a hot cocoa bar and some cookies. We may have a little scavenger hunt for them to do, just kind of gearing up for Christmas,” she said. “The very last weekend on December 27 and 28, we have Rollin’ on the Pecos. What that is is a neon glow skating rink,” said Barkley. She said it will be at the bumper car pavilion and feature a DJ, with music and lights, adding that the setup is designed for roller skates or blades.

Tickets are available at www.christmasonthepecos.com. Tickets for boat rides on Monday through Thursday are discounted for Eddy County residents.