{"id":126418,"date":"2026-04-26T15:38:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/heritage-days-festival-to-debut-in-cortez-during-national-historic-preservation-month\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T15:38:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:38:41","slug":"heritage-days-festival-to-debut-in-cortez-during-national-historic-preservation-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/heritage-days-festival-to-debut-in-cortez-during-national-historic-preservation-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage Days Festival to debut in Cortez during National Historic Preservation Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Montezuma Heritage Museum will host Heritage Days Festival in May. (Courtesy Montezuma County Historical Society)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

A new festival celebrating the history and culture of southwest Colorado will debut in Cortez during National Historic Preservation Month, offering two days of free, family-friendly events.<\/p>\n

Heritage Days Festival, presented by the Montezuma Heritage Museum, is scheduled for May 1-2 and will highlight the stories, traditions and people that have shaped Cortez, Montezuma County and the Four Corners region overall.<\/p>\n

The event will feature local exhibitors, artisans and historical vendors, demonstrations, live music, guided walking tours and educational programs focused on regional heritage, including ancestral Pueblo culture and early pioneer life.<\/p>\n

The weekend\u2019s events will kick off May 1 at noon with a history of early photography session, followed by a tintype portrait session with Silver & Cyanide Photography. Those who participate will receive a \u201cone-of-a-kind\u201d portrait. Sessions should be reserved in advance, as spots are expected to fill quickly.<\/p>\n

The day will continue with the opening reception of \u201cMoments That Made Us,\u201d an exhibit that explores key events and figures in the county\u2019s history from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibit is also tied to America\u2019s 250th anniversary, Colorado\u2019s 150th anniversary and Cortez\u2019s 140th anniversary. It will remain on display through December, with select portions traveling across the county.<\/p>\n

Events continue May 2 with an exhibitor fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring regional organizations, artists and makers, along with family-friendly activities.<\/p>\n

\n

If You Go<\/h4>\n

What:<\/strong> Heritage Days Festival<\/p>\n

When:<\/strong> Friday, May 1, at noon; Saturday, May 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

Where: <\/strong>Montezuma Heritage Museum, 35 S. Chestnut St. Cortez Cultural Center, 25 N. Market St. Turquoise Raven Art Gallery, 104 E. Main St. ZU Gallery, 48 W. Main St.<\/p>\n

Cost:<\/strong> Free<\/p>\n

More<\/strong> <\/p>\n

information:<\/strong> www.montezumamuseum.org\/events-2\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Organizations and makers scheduled to attend include Galloping Goose Historical Society, Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, Cortez Farmers Market, Mountain Hedgewitch, Southwest Colorado Canyons Alliance, Dolores High School FFA, Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants, Cortez Historic Preservation Board, Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo, Montezuma Land Conservancy, DAR \u2013 Sleeping Ute Chapter, Starhopper Henna and Silver & Cyanide Photo Studio.<\/p>\n

Demonstrations throughout the day will include Native American dance presentations at the Cortez Cultural Center, plein air painting at the Turquoise Raven Art Gallery and a musical performance at the ZU Gallery.<\/p>\n

Guided walking tours will be offered throughout the weekend by the Cortez Historic Preservation Board and local tour groups, focusing on the people, businesses and events that defined Cortez\u2019s development. Advance registration is encouraged, as space is limited. Proceeds from the tours will benefit the Montezuma Heritage Museum.<\/p>\n

More information about the Heritage Days events and schedule is available at www.montezumamuseum.org\/events-2\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

will kick off on May 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5903],"tags":[21,28,198,60,29,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-126418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-history","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126418"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=126418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}