On Saturday October 22, 2016 El Sereno Community Arts will be holding its 7th annual free Día de los Muertos community festival on Huntington Drive from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Día de los Muertos is strongly associated with Mexico, where the tradition originated, but it is celebrated throughout Latin America and anywhere with a Latin population, including Los Angeles, California.
A lot of people admire the intricacy of the costumes, skulls, makeup, and decorations but sometimes we forget what this day is really about. Día de los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead is celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2 when the dead is believed to visit their loved ones. It is a Mexican tradition where those have departed are celebrated by taking these days to remember them and make special foods in their honor.
It is believed that the dead would be insulted if the living were to mourn or be sad, and therefore Día de los Muertos is a way to honor the lives of the departed by being joyous and having parties in their remembrance.
Kids at local schools such as All Saints Elementary, Multnomah Elementary, Sierra Park Elementary, Sierra Vista Middle School, Wilson High School, El Sereno Elementary, El Sereno Middle School, Farmdale Elementary, and Huntington Drive Elementary participate in creating artwork for the event.
In an interview with Odyssey Online, Andrew Cervantes, Director of Arts Programming for El Sereno Community Arts, reveals why the kids love participating in the preparation for the festival. “They love expressing their creativity. They love representing their schools. The kids also enjoy working with an artist who will take their ideas and drawings and make them into murals,” he said, adding, “I enjoy working with the kids on their ideas and seeing what they draw and how they want to represent their school. And also watching them paint and complete a mural. They are full of smiles and in awe when they see them up on the street.”
According to Cervantes, this is the 7th year of the festival and 2nd year since they started the murals. He has been a part of it since the very beginning.
The festival will consist of multiple festivities such as an entertainment stage featuring local talents, folklórico dancers, Taste of El Sereno consisting of food from restaurants around the neighborhood, an underground art tunnel, the Mural Project, a balloon release, social altars, and a community altar in the children’s area, and much more.
In memory of loved ones, Altars are made by including their photo, decorations, incense, candles, and food such as ‘pan de muertos’ or candy baked in the shape of skulls.
The planning of the festival is not a short process. They start planning in February and have to fundraise all year to be able to put on the festival. Cervantes explains why they put so much time and effort into preparing for the event.
“The motivation is to engage the community in a beautiful tradition, to show the community pride and display all of the amazing talent in our beautiful neighborhood. We know a lot of our neighbors celebrate Día de los Muertos and we really wanted to offer them a local event that kept closer to the traditions we share,” he said.
If you want to remember and honor a loved one or just want to be a part of the movement, join the community in this annual Día de los Muertos celebration this Saturday hosted by El Sereno Community Arts and Hecho en Mexico. More information can be found on their Facebook page.
