Farolitos light the Inn and Spa at Loretto in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Farolitos light the Inn and Spa at Loretto in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Every year as Christmas approaches, the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, hosts the Canyon Road Farolito Walk. What’s a farolito? A ‘little lantern,’ a votive candle in a paper bag weighted down with sand, seen here adorning a hotel in Santa Fe. Many homes in the Southwest are decorated for the holidays with farolitos, or luminarias, as they’re also called. Sometimes electric farolitos are displayed. No matter what you call them, the lights provide that cheery glow to keep winter gloom away.