2-day event celebrates the Bear and his Birthplace 

Capitan, NM – This year marks the 80th birthday of New Mexico’s most famous fire prevention icon – Smokey Bear. It also marks the return of Smokey Bear Days, with two days of family friendly events taking place in downtown Capitan, May 3-4.  

Events will include a two-day folk music festival, a firefighter challenge competition, chainsaw carving demonstrations, conservation education and vendor booths, a home-town parade on Saturday morning, and more family-friendly activities. Visitors can also view the Rudy Wendelin Smokey Bear art exhibit, on display at the Smokey Bear Historical Park.  

Admission to the outdoor events is free. Smokey Bear Historical Park admission is $2.00 for adults, $1.00 for kids ages 7-12, and children 6 & under are free.  

Capitan, New Mexico is the home of the living symbol of wildfire prevention, Smokey Bear.  In May of 1950, a young bear cub was recovered from the Capitan Gap fire on the Lincoln National Forest just north of Capitan. He had been separated from his mother during the fire and was badly burned. There was little chance that he would survive the ordeal until firefighters rescued him and brought him back to fire camp. There he came under the custody of New Mexico Game and Fish warden, Ray Bell and several other key figures who connected the story of this little orphaned bear cub to the national wildfire prevention campaign.   

Smokey Bear became the living symbol of wildfire prevention. He spent the next 25 years at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., serving as an ambassador for wildfire prevention to the millions of people who visited the zoo every year. When he passed away in 1976, he was brought back to Capitan to be buried in the park that bears his name. 

Smokey Bear Days started in 2004 and was last hosted in 2019 in celebration of Smokey’s 75th birthday. 

A complete schedule of 2024 events can be found here. The Energy Minerals and Natural Resources  Forestry Division hopes you can join this fun, family-friendly event celebrating “Capitan’s bear that changed history.”