Thousands of people strolled Canyon Road and Acequia Madre on Monday night as a nearly full moon rose over the Sangre de Cristos.

They enjoyed free cups of apple cider and hot chocolate, "flying farolitos" and occasional songs belted out by impromptu carolers in the clear, cold weather.

"It's a lot better than it was last year," said Lauren Thompson of Santa Fe. "It was not only the snow and ice, but this road was just rutted with ice and slush so it was hard to walk."

Thompson said last year was her first time on the annual Farolito Walk. This year, she brought along her friend, Carol Cuzner of Santa Rosa, Calif., who said the east-side display was "fabulous."

The displays ranged from elaborate electric lights in the shapes of reindeer, flowers and snowflakes in the yard of a private residence at 519 Canyon Road to a minimalist grouping of a dozen farolitos — paper bags filled with sand and a single candle — at El Zaguán next door.

Here and there, luminarias — small bonfires of pitchwood — let the visitors gather to warm their hands. At Sculpture 619, owner and exhibitor Gino Miles filled a coffee urn with hot cider provided to passersby.

The annual Christmas Eve event draws visitors from around the country. Kevin Fong and Rose Ting of San Francisco said this is the third straight year they've spent Christmas in Santa Fe so they can attend the event.

Some avoided the crowds along Canyon Road by ducking over to Acequia Madre and its side streets, where farolitos and luminarias lined the street named for the east side's irrigation ditch. Near Delgado Street, someone was launching flying farolitos — small, homemade, hot-air balloons that rose to several hundred feet before catching fire and disintegrating in the evening air.

Moss and Robert Tryer drove up from their Albuquerque home to take the walk with their children, Boden, 5, and Eben, 6, after dinner with Moss's grandmother, Rose DeWindt, who lives on Canyon Road.

"I grew up here, so I always come back for Christmas," Moss Tryer said. "And this really is the best part of it."

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.