Some neighbors along the route of tonight's Farolito Walk hope heavy snows will discourage the crowds so the annual event is a quieter, more intimate, more local affair.

In past years, up to 10,000 people have strolled Canyon Road, Acequia Madre and other east-side streets on Christmas Eve to see the displays of paper bags with votive candles and bonfires of pitch wood, sip hot cider and sing carols.

Occasionally, drunken revelers have caused problems. This year, police will be on hand to enforce bans on drinking in public during the event.

"It was meant to be a quiet neighborhood celebration, so that's one of the reasons we've discouraged commercial activity, and we've discouraged buses from Albuquerque and that sort of thing," said John Pen La Farge, president of the Historic Neighborhood Association, which has sponsored the Farolito Walk for three decades. "We appreciate that people love it, but what they love can only be had when it's quiet and local, and the more of a circus atmosphere it becomes, then the thing that they're looking for won't be there."

No major changes in the event are anticipated.

Richard Herdman, who has set up a model train exhibit outside his home at 1 Plaza Fatima for more than a decade, said Tuesday that he has been shoveling snow in an effort to have room for the exhibit tonight. "We'll know in the morning if it's possible," he said. "But for now, let's count on it."

As usual, barricades will be set up to block motorized traffic on Canyon Road, Acequia Madre and side streets from 5:30 to 9 tonight; elderly and handicapped neighborhood residents will be allowed through.

The city is running free shuttle buses from Santa Fe Place and DeVargas Center to the PERA parking lot from 5:15 to 9:15 p.m. General parking also will be available in the PERA parking lot. Police will set up crosswalks across Paseo de Peralta on the southeast corner of the lot.

Marilyn Bane, a board member of the Historic Neighborhood Association, said she hopes out-of-town visitors to the Farolito Walk will take advantage of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express train this year to further cut down on cars.

"From the Historic Neighborhood Association standpoint, we want it to be as neighborly and friendly and warm and caring as it could possibly be," she said. "I think you'll find most of the residents put out real farolitos, but it's been my experience that an awful lot of the galleries will have electric ones as they do downtown."

Bane cautioned walkers to keep their dogs on a short leash and pay attention to children in strollers who can be hard to see in the crowded, darkened streets. Portable toilets will be set up at the Acequia Madre Elementary School and in the city parking lot across Canyon Road from El Farol, she said.

Because of the snow that has accumulated since Monday evening, "we're hoping there won't be a huge number of people," Bane said. "On the one hand, we want everyone to enjoy it. But on the other, we worry about the sheer masses of people from a safety concern."

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