SummerFest returns to Pajarito, with Sunbender, beer and shuttle service

Pajarito Mountain will make it easy to spend a Saturday on the hill: SummerFest returns June 6 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. with Sunbender, lift-served downhill mountain biking, hiking and a shuttle running from Sullivan Field. For Los Alamos families, it turns the mountain into a simple afternoon outing instead of a logistics project.

The annual deck party is built around the basics people actually use. Pajarito Mountain’s event listing says Boxing Bear Brewing Company, Blu Dragon Brewery and Red River Brewing will be pouring, and the Pajarito Cafe will be open so visitors can stay on-site for food instead of leaving the mountain. The county visitor site also lists SummerFest for the same time slot, underscoring that the event sits squarely in the local summer calendar.

The shuttle matters as much as the band. Pajarito Mountain says service will run from Sullivan Field, a practical move for anyone who does not want to deal with parking or the drive up Camp May Road. That traffic concern is not new: last year’s event used shuttle service because of the heavier mix of vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians and shuttles headed to the mountain. The setup gives residents a way to come up, listen to live music, eat, drink and get back down without trying to manage a crowded road or a parking scramble.

SummerFest also marks one of the first major summer weekends on Pajarito. The mountain describes it as an annual, family-friendly kickoff to the season, and that is the real draw for people who have not been up in a while. It is not just a concert with beer sales attached. It is a local ritual that pairs music with outdoor recreation, and it signals that hiking and mountain biking season is underway in Los Alamos. A 2024 post called that year the event’s 20th anniversary, showing how long this mountain tradition has been part of the county’s warm-weather routine.