PHOENIX — The Dia de los Muertos Festival returns to the Mesa Arts Center in downtown Mesa this weekend.
The festival will take place over two days and run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, according to the city.
“The Dia de los Muertos Festival at Mesa Arts Center is a beautiful blend of tradition and community,” Mesa Arts Center Executive Director Mandy Tripoli said in a press release. “It’s a celebration that brings people together year after year, and this year families can enjoy even more hands-on artmaking, performances and activities for all ages.”
What will the Dia de los Muertos Festival in Mesa consist of?
Mesa’s Dia de los Muertos Festival is nationally recognized. It offers a variety of entertainment, including mariachi music, folklorico dance, contemporary bands and a DJ stage.
Each morning the festival will have a Relaxed Hour at 9 a.m. with less amplified sounds, reduced lighting and fewer crowds in order to make the festival more accessible to attendees with sensory sensitives.
On Saturday, the festivities will kick off with a traditional Aztec Dance performance by Grupo Coatlicue at 10 a.m.
In addition to the entertainment, there will be artmaking activities offered including a Copper Enamel Calaveras workshop and free youth nichos. The Mesa Arts Center will offer free glass and ceramics demonstrations throughout the event and its Mobile Art Based Engagement Lab (MABEL) will also have activities set up.
Other activities at the festival will include traditional face painting, a Mercado marketplace to shop from, Mexican arts and crafts, photobooths, live muralists and the annual Altar Contest.
This year, the festival will extend to First Avenue and a larger stage and expanded food court will be added.
Another new addition to the event will be an immersive digital cemetery designed by Mesa Youth Creative Agency.
A Catrina sculpture — a female skeletal figure — will be done by Mexican artists Oscar Becerra Mora and Ruben Miguel Castillo Navarrete with help from sculpture student Barbara Atkinson and metal sculpture lead instructor Matt Smith.
There will be a community altar, designed by artist Xochitl Avila, for community members to leave momentos in honor of their deceased loved ones. The city noted that photographs are kept and replaced each year or can be picked up at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
To wrap up the festival on Sunday, there will be an open procession to the community altar led by Grupo Coatlicue, Mariachi Sones del Desierto and Ballet Folklorico La Llorona. The procession will be followed by a closing ceremony with Mayor Freeman, Consul General of Mexico Jorge Mendoza Yescas and a performance by Mariachi Pasion.
The festival is free to attend and parking is free as well.
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