Las Golondrinas Has Roaring Start for its 2019 Season

Volunteers Julia Gomez, Michelle Montaño and Annette Gutierrez Turk working on colcha embroidery. Photo by Richard Gonzales.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, the living history museum south of Santa Fe, enjoyed a roaring start to its 2019 season.

Attendance for its Spring Festival last weekend was up 40 percent over last year’s opener. Gift shop sales were up 300 percent, and more than 30 visitors purchased memberships that offer significant discounts.

One couple was so impressed with the museum that they made an on-the-spot donation of $500.

According to Dan Goodman, museum director, Las Golondrinas is on the upswing because of new marketing and development goals. “Armed with a new 3-year strategic plan, great staff, dedicated volunteers, and a very supportive Board of Directors, we’re on a roll to a higher level of excellence.”

Museum volunteers dressed in period attire heard many favorable comments from visitors, many from out-of-state, said Jackie Chamborde, the museum’s new development director.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas, “The Ranch of the Swallows” is the Southwest’s Premier Living History Museum with 34 historic buildings, farm fields, and 200 scenic acres. Located in La Cienega, the museum began in 1972 on the site of a stopping place for water and food by travelers on the centuries-old Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe.

The museum receives high ratings on sites such as TripAdvisor, where 96 percent of visitors rated Las Golondrinas “excellent” or “very good.”

Last year, TripExpert, based in New York City and featured in the New York Times, GQ, The Daily Telegraph and other publications, gave Las Golondrinas its Expert Choice Award. Fewer than two percent of attractions worldwide earned this honor.

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