Magical Marfa Brings Its Beloved Fall Festivals Back — Escaping to a West Texas Wonderland Where Vaccinations Rule

One can venture to West Texas, a land where the vast cerulean sky stretches on forever, for an off-grid escape this fall. Yet you should be prepared for a distinctly different vibe in the small town art mecca of Marfa these days. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fall events and festivals — including the otherworldly Marfa Lights — were all canceled in 2020. Moving forward, these hyper-local fests and music pilgrimages will be approached in a different manner in Marfa.

This year, even amid the Delta variant outbreak, a trio of festivals are back on again, including the Marfa Lights Festival, Trans-Pecos Festival of Music+Love and Chinati Weekend. This dusty ranch town transformed into an art world hangout is finally welcoming back visitors again — to a point. An all-outdoors experience with social distancing will set the tone.

“All three of those events are a go,” Marfa Chamber of Commerce president Abby Boyd says. “We’re happy to have people coming back out. We’re also hoping that everyone is responsible and stays home if they’re not feeling well.

“Of course, everyone is encouraged to wear masks. Keep up with what the CDC are saying as much as possible.”

If all goes off without a hitch, the 34th annual Marfa Lights Festival is slated for Labor Day Weekend (September 2 to 5). The Trans-Pecos Festival of Music+Love will make its return on September 22 to September 26. And Chinati Weekend is set for an in-person return for the weekend of October 8 to 10.

The return of these three much-anticipated festivals has prompted a revisiting of sorts about how to approach festivals and gatherings now.

“Marfa in general has had an opportunity to take a pause during the pandemic and look at the way things have always been done and maybe rethink some of things,” Boyd notes. “Keep some of our traditions in place, but also have an opportunity to rethink some things and change the way we’ve done things.”

One event that was proposed was a community dinner instead of a benefit dinner during Chinati Weekend, Boyd says. While that event’s not set in stone quite yet, it inspired Boyd.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to see these long-running festivals from a new perspective,” she says. “Our visitors might see some new traditions starting. Rather than doing a benefit dinner, they may be doing a community dinner.

“There will be some changes and some mixing up, the starting of new traditions. It definitely makes it more accessible and more of a community feeling. It will have a really nice communal vibe.”

Perched in the lone high desert about “200 miles from anywhere,” there’s always been a mystical draw to Marfa that’s now home to the creative class and Texas ranchers. Marfa began as a humble railroad water stop in the 1800s in Presidio County. Even back then, there was talk of the peculiar glow of the Marfa Lights in Chinati Mountains.

After Donald Judd set foot in Marfa, making his indelible mark on the town in the 1970s, the town has attracted ranchers, bohemian artists, hipsters, nomads and celebrities, including Beyonce, Wallace Shawn, Anna Wintour and David Byrne.

The significant caveat to the return of these Marfa gatherings is that this West Texas community must forge ahead with caution, in light of the COVID-19 Delta variant’s surge through Texas. The very palpable concern is that hospital capacity in this remote region is limited. One of the closest medical facilities is the Alpine Medical Center — about 30 miles away — which has limited capabilities when it comes to treating severe COVID-19 patients.

“We’re hoping to have a good return to the festivals, but we’re also planning on taking it slowly, ” Boyd says. “If people don’t feel safe traveling right now, we encourage them to stay home and join us next year.

“We’ll be back next year. We’ll be even further in the rear-view mirror, and we can go back to celebrating at the scale we’re used to. Everyone is proceeding with caution.”

Marfa, an 85 Percent Vaccinated Land

If you’re heading to the Trans-Pecos Festival of Music+Love, capacity will be reduced by 50 percent.

“Now that 85 percent of the Marfa population is fully vaccinated, possibly the highest number in the state, this means less fear and more normalcy,” El Cosmico general manager Monika Bernstein says. “Nevertheless, it’s important to be respectful of our small community. Like our guests have always been.”

This year, ticket holders at Trans-Pecos will get four days of music, instead of the usual three. The best part is that Trans-Pecos, Marfa Lights and Chinati Weekend are all experienced outdoors for the most part.

Tickets are still available for the Trans-Pecos Fest. Marfa Lights Festival is entirely free and open to the public in an outdoors setting.

“We’re definitely encouraged to see many of Marfa’s main events taking place again,” Bernstein says. “What sets these events apart is that they all take place outdoors for the most part. We’ve been throwing live outdoor music events at El Cosmico in recent months, and it’s been an absolute joy to be able to bring people together again.”

Bernstein reveals that there will be a few new things for festival-goers to look forward to during the Trans-Pecos Festival of Music+Love.

“At the Trans-Pecos Festival, they can expect a great lineup, workshops, vintage and makers in the retail circle, sandlot baseball and an additional day of the festival — all in an outdoor venue at the reduced capacity,” she adds.

Oh, yes. Nothing’s quite as alluring as the high desert speakeasy tucked away in a yurt featured at Trans-Pecos.

“We’re partnering up with local restaurant Cochineal on this one,” Bernstein says. “The Speakeasy will be in one of our yurts and Cochineal will be curating the cocktail menu with their mixology geniuses.”

Marfa Devotees

For Houston photographer Gary Griffin, visiting Marfa in the fall is one of his all-time favorite experiences, and Trans-Pecos is just part of the adventure.

“My favorite times to go to Marfa are in the fall and winter because I like how the landscape is very barren,” Griffin says. “My favorite time to go is in February. To me, it looks really cool. It’s kinda striking.

“I might be going to the Trans-Pecos thing. It’s a blast, a festival on a much smaller scale. It’s well run, but laid-back.”

Yes, it’s a bit of a drive from any of the major cities in Texas, but Marfa’s well worth it for sweeping vistas of lavender skies, austere desert beauty, the cluster of art galleries and coffee shops and an ethereal escape into the wide open spaces. Fill your eyes with wonder on that far West Texas adventure, but traveler, stay safe.