Written By Ken HulseyOne of my fondest Christmas memories comes from the time I lived in New Mexico. Seeing the walkways and buildings aglow with a sea of luminaries, also known as farolitos, was a truly beautiful and spectacular sight during the holidays. In fact, I've often considered decorating my own home and yard with luminarias to capture that enchanting southwestern flair.Luminarias, the glowing brown paper bags that adorn Albuquerque's walkways, churches, and homes each holiday season, date back more than 300 years. This New Mexican tradition began when Spanish villages along the Rio Grande displayed these unique and easy-to-make Christmas lanterns to welcome the Christ child. Traditionally, a luminaria is a brown paper bag, folded at the top and filled with a couple cups of sand and a votive candle.
If you visit Albuquerque in December, you'll get to experience the annual Luminaria Tour at the Old Town Plaza. Hundreds of people wander through the golden glow of more than a thousand twinkling paper lanterns on a cool winter night.
The early versions of luminarias were not paper bags, but rather small bonfires of crisscrossed piñon branches built in three-foot high squares. It was not until colored paper was later brought over from the Orient that luminarias evolved into the form we recognize today. Instead of fragile hanging lanterns that could be damaged by wind, people began placing small bags on the ground, rooftops, and along pathways.
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