TAOS, N.M. — The Town of Taos will play host to a variety of musical performances this summer as part of a town-wide effort to promote music in northern New Mexico. The various concerts, festivals and events that are sponsored by multiple organizations throughout Taos began in May and run through September.

Michael Franti & Spearhead and The Original Wailers will perform at Kit Carson Park on Saturday, June 9 at 5 p.m. Additionally, a free 4th of July concert presented by the Town of Taos is set at Kit Carson park where Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members and R&B/funk legends The Family Stone will perform with special guests Baracutanga at 5:30 p.m. followed by a fireworks display at the end of the night.

“We’re very excited for a summer full of music in Taos,” said Karina Armijo, director of Marketing and Tourism for the Town of Taos. “It’s a great way to show people from near and far that Taos is a music hotspot in the Southwest,” she said. “We’re very grateful to the many organizations in town that are contributing to our growing music scene.”

Other festivals and performances scheduled for the summer include Motet on the Mesa on July 28-29 at the Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership and the 9th Annual Dog Days of Summer Concert, which benefits Stray Hearts Animal Shelter, on August 11 at the KTAOS Solar Center Pavilion. Michael Hearne’s Big Barn Dance Music Festival will take place September 6-8 followed by Voodoo Threauxdown with Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue on September 22 at Kit Carson Park.

New to Taos this year is Meow Wolf’s Taos Vortex, which will include music, performance art, installations and camping, August 3rd and 4th. The lineup includes The Flaming Lips, Thievery Corporation, Cashmere Cat, Washed Out and more.

For more information on the music events happening in Taos this summer, visit https://taos.org/events/music-festivals/.