Best of Burque 2008

If the city administration had its way we'd call this issue "Best of The Q." Luckily, that's never going to happen, and for an important reason: Albuquerque can't be contained by some sterilized, gentrified, two-bit (one-letter) moniker. Not to say that "Burque" encapsulates everything our city and its citizens stand for, but at least it's a term that's evolved by the people, for the people. (To read about the movement that's formed to fight "The Q," check out www.soydeburque.com.)

What Burque means to the Alibi is hard to define, although we try our best every year to give a sampling of the finest our burg represents: the festivals and the personalities, the artistic accomplishments and the entrepreneurs. Every spring, we ask you to vote on what about Burque you think is exceptional, and, a few weeks later, we print the results of that poll in these pages.

We've also included a smattering of Staff Picks--Albuquerque highlights from Alibi employees--along with votes from an array of community figures on their personal "best of"s.

Thanks to the coalition of people that helped put this issue together: Tom Nayder, Tina Larkin, Matt Salazar, Adrienne Luena, Laura Marrich, Marisa Demarco, Devin O'Leary, Amy Dalness, Jessica Cassyle Carr, Simon McCormack, Erin Adair-Hodges, Rachel Miller, Steven Nery, Christie Chisholm and the rest of the Alibi staff that made a contribution. It's a great, big beast, but we love it.

We hope you enjoy thumbing through these pages looking for the people you know, the places you voted for and the discoveries you've not yet made--and we hope it gives you just a taste of the spirit of our city. ¡Que viva Burque!

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