IndigenousWays Festival 2026

August 14, Friday
6 - 10 PM MT

Santa Fe Railyard Water Tower

CommUNITY

Rooted in Community. Rising in Unity.

Join us under the open sky at the iconic Water Tower in the Santa Fe Railyard for the 2026 IndigenousWays Festival a free, family friendly evening of Indigenous music, art, and community that will stay with you long after the last chord fades.

Some nights, a city remembers who it is. Friday, August 14, 2026 is going to be one of those nights.

IndigenousWays invites all of Santa Fe families, elders, youth, visitors, and neighbors to gather for an unforgettable evening uplifting some of today's most inspiring Indigenous voices. This year's festival carries our 2026 season theme into sound: CommUNITY - Rooted in Community. Rising in Unity. Indigenous music is not a relic. It is alive, contemporary, and speaking directly to right now.

Event is FREE and family Friendly. All are welcome. All belong.

Note: ASL interpreters on site. Please bring your own chair (BYOC).

In collaboration with Lensic360

Lensic 360 is an extension of Lensic Performing Arts Center programming that presents concerts at venues throughout New Mexico and offers top-quality, free community programs. The mission of Lensic 360 is to present a diverse array of incredible artists to the greater community and support a thriving entertainment scene in New Mexico for artists and audiences alike.

Schedule

Schedule

6:00 – 10:00 PM
Live music, workshops, food, and community

BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) and plan on participating in a variety of workshops for all ages, including hands-on creative activities, traditional drumming, face-painting, and more. We also have Indigenous-inspired food trucks, artists, and advocacy booths.

2026 Featured Artists

Three extraordinary artists. One unforgettable night. This year's lineup brings together a living legend and two of the most electrifying voices in contemporary Indigenous music weaving blues, rock, folk, metal, reggae, and traditional Native sound into one evening of celebration.

Keith Secola

A living legend of Indigenous music and a nine time Native American Music Award winner, including Best Producer and Artist of the Year, Keith Secola is an inductee of the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame. His signature song "NDN Kars," recorded 34 years ago, remains the most played song on Native American radio stations to this day. His sound is impossible to pin down blues, rock, folk, reggae, country, and traditional Native music woven together with politically conscious lyrics and a sly, irresistible wit. "When I lost hearing in my ear," Secola has said, "it taught me how to hear with my heart." When Keith Secola takes a stage, the whole world listens.

(Ojibwa/Anishinabe)

Levi Platero

A self-taught blues rock guitarist from To'hajilee, New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation, Levi Platero is a 2016 Native American Music Award winner whose soulful, electrifying sound weaves together Texas blues, vintage rock, and deep Diné roots. Featured by GRAMMY.com as an artist illuminating a path forward for blues-rock in Indigenous communities, Platero plays with the kind of raw intuition that cannot be taught only lived. On August 14th, he brings that fire to the Railyard stage. Santa Fe will feel every note.

(Diné)

Nation, Sage Bond writes from the full breadth of who she is: personal life, culture, and the fearless spirit of heavy metal. The author of two albums and a collaborator with artists across genres, Bond currently teaches with the Heartbeat Music Project and the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project. Her music is a gift and a force and hearing her live is something else entirely

(Diné)

Sage Bond

Our partners & sponsors:

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  • City of Santa Fe

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Keep the Music Free.
Keep the Circle Strong.

Every note you'll hear on August 14th is a gift made possible by community. IndigenousWays keeps the Festival and all of our programs free and open to the public because we believe Indigenous art, story, and song belong to everyone.

Donate Today

Your donation directly supports:

  • Artist honoraria that pay Indigenous musicians what their work is worth

  • ASL interpretation, closed captioning, and accessibility at every event

  • Free community programming year-round Wisdom Circles, the Film Festival, Media Arts, and our Internship Program for the next generation of Indigenous leaders

$25 helps welcome a family to the Festival. $100 supports an hour of ASL interpretation. $500 helps bring an artist to the Railyard stage. $1,000+ sustains a full season of free community gatherings.

Whatever you can give, give from the heart. Every dollar keeps the circle strong.

IndigenousWays is a Native-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your gift is tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.