The colorful banners are hung, the tents are erected, and the stages are set. The grounds of Fort Marcy Complex stand transformed into a festival playground for events this weekend that mark the kickoff of Santa Fe's 400th Anniversary celebration.

Two daylong free family fairs and two ticketed evening concerts are the first in a series of commemorative activities spread out over the next 16 months.

Wet weather in the forecast for this weekend has some prospective partygoers wondering about contingency plans, but organizers say events will withstand raindrops.

"The events are both rain or shine," said Jamie Lenfesty, who is producing tonight's concert lineup headed by Ozomatli. "Weather is a reality ... but right now the forecast is scattered thunderstorms, which is what it is every day this time of the year in Santa Fe. That's the nature of any outdoor event."

Attendees are welcome to carry their own umbrellas, although free-standing umbrellas will still be prohibited, he said.

Lenfesty said the shows will be a different scene from the wild annual Fort Marcy event that will happen next Thursday at the same location: the burning of Old Man Gloom.

"We want there to be room for people to spread out a blanket and have a picnic. This is not 18,000 people standing shoulder-to-shoulder screaming for Zozobra to burn," he said.

Even if today's show attracts the younger and wilder, Sunday's fireworks and a Santa Fe Symphony performance are likely to attract a variety of ages.

Visitors to the 10 a.m. Viva Santa Fe events will enter the Magers Field area by walking under an "adobe" archway just off Artist Road, crafted by members of the local International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees. The 17-foot-tall arch is wide enough for an ambulance to pass through, explained prop-maker Arthur Arndt.

"This is a typical Hollywood prop that we would make for a movie or TV series," he said, as he covered a wood and fiber skin with stucco.

After passing through the arch, one of the first things visitors will see — after they take their eyes off a banner-decorated stage — is a real piece of history.

Young children can take a ride on "Tío Vivo," a primitive county fair carousel from the 1890s. It has traveled around Northern New Mexico on the backs of mules, and has been in use by the Taos Lions Club since the 1930s.

Carousel steward Wayne Rutherford said it's estimated that 500,000 to 750,000 children have taken rides on the carousel, and when Santa Fe anniversary planners called about sharing the ride, he and other stewards agreed.

"We felt it was kind of the right decision, to make sure this tradition is known by as many people as possible in Northern New Mexico," Rutherford said, "and that kids get to delight in it who would not necessarily be up here in Taos for Fiestas."

Among the other offerings at the fair:

• Free commemorative family portraits by Santa Fe Photography Workshops. The booth will have a collection of cowboy hats, pioneer bonnets, a hobby horse and other props to make the sepia-toned images more fun.
• The city's poet laureate, Valerie Martinez, invited participants from her "Families Lines Circles" project to display their intergenerational art projects and to host activities for kids.
• The Santa Fe School of Cooking has a large tent with family-size tables decorated in grease-proof cloth where patrons can watch local chefs whip up a "Tapestry of Taste."

For more information and a complete schedule, visit www.santafe400th.com.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Viva Santa Fe 400th Anniversary kickoff events

When: Starting at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Fort Marcy Park

Cost: Free fair from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; ticketed concerts 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday are free for children under 12; Saturday concert $25 adults; Sunday concert $30 chair seating for adults, $12 picnic seating.

For more information and a complete schedule, visit www.santafe400th.com.

Getting there

Parking at Fort Marcy is severely limited. Free shuttles are offered all day from the following locations:

• South Capitol Complex (free parking) on Cerrillos Road between Cordova Road and Alta Vista Street
• PERA building (free parking) on Paseo de Peralta
• Railyard Garage ($5 parking all day), access from Calle de la Familia or Manhattan
• Santa Fe Community Convention Center ($7 parking all day), 201 W. Marcy St.