Posted in New Mexico International Food, Winter December 14, 2020 by Monica Spencer

For 25 Years, This Massive Tumbleweed Snowman Has Been Wishing New Mexicans Holiday Cheer

There are plenty of signs unique to New Mexico that suggest the holiday season is upon us. Catching a glimpse of the Bugg light display in Belen. Getting a whiff of biscochitos baking in an oven. Watching (or participating in) an assembly line of endless tamale making.

Another unusual cue? That massive tumbleweed snowman that pops up along Interstate 40 in Albuquerque sometime after Thanksgiving.

The tradition first began in 1995 at the playful suggestion of reutilizing a few of the many tumbleweeds collected from the city's arroyos and other areas of town.

Since then, this tumbleweed Frosty has seen several variations, but a few things remain the same: he stands up to 14 feet tall, he has a blue hat made from a 55-gallon drum, and he is made each year by members of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority.

Early in the holiday season, employees choose three massive tumbleweeds picked up from arroyos, then stack and paint them white for a jolly snowman.

On Tumbleweed Tuesday—what the flood control authority calls the Tuesday after Thanksgiving—the snowman is placed on a pallet and driven to his winter home.

The tumbleweed snowman sits just north of the westbound lanes along Interstate 40, between Carlisle and University boulevards. It is typically visible between the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and early January.

Hoping to build your own snowman made of, well, snow? While you may be hard-pressed to find enough snow in Albuquerque to do so, you can easily make a day trip to a frozen landscape like Angel Fire. In addition to building a snowman, this location is also the perfect spot for snow tubing. Read more in The Longest Snow Tubing Run In New Mexico Can Be Found At Angel Fire Resort.

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Address: Albuquerque, NM, USA