7th Annual Día de los Muertos Festival Coming Up

From The City of Santa Cruz: On Saturday, November 3rd, the streets of Downtown Santa Cruz will be filled with families, youth, and performers celebrating the traditional Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos. This is the 7th annual Santa Cruz festival keeping traditions and memories of loved ones alive. Co-created with Senderos, the free 6 hour festival is jam-packed with family-friendly performances and activities. Festivities start at the museum with face painting and tissue paper flower making. At 2pm, the mile-long procession takes off from the MAH through Mission Santa Cruz State Park and onto Evergreen Cemetery. The procession culminates at Evergreen with more dance performances, community ofrendas (altars), and an outdoor screening of Disney's Coco.

Senderos, the MAH’s partner in producing Día de los Muertos, brings vital cultural experience and talent in producing this event. Through their after-school and weekend programs, Senderos works to keep their native traditions, cultures, and languages alive. Many of their musicians, dancers, and performers will be present at
this November’s event. Día de los Muertos is just one of the MAH’s events and exhibitions this fall
celebrating Latinx (Latinx is a gender neutral term for people of Latin-American origin) families and traditions. On November 8th and 14th, speakers will honor the 150th anniversary of Watsonville in an event created in partnership with the City of Watsonville and Watsonville Library.

On November 2nd, visitors at the MAH will find two new exhibitions that touch on important local and international issues for Latinx communities. Mirando al Futuro opens in the History Gallery. Created with the farmers from the Beach Flats Community Garden, visitors learn about the farmer’s struggle to preserve land and tradition down by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Upstairs Lay of the Land by Rodrigo Valenzuela explores the dislocation and disorientation of being an immigrant in a new place. Valenzuela challenges visitors to reflect on ways they find connection in unfamiliar places. On December 7th, the MAH will open a pop-up exhibition in Watsonville Goodwill co-created with the Digital Nest. Using repurposed Goodwill items, MAH Archival images of Watsonville, and images designed by Digital Nest a wall of the Watsonville Goodwill will be completely renovated with art until June 30th, 2019. Not all museums collaborate with unheard voices like this. Since its turnaround in 2011, the MAH has become a museum of, by, and for Santa Cruz County because of powerful partnerships like these. Over 30% of Santa Cruz County identifies as Latinx. To center these voices at the heart of our events, exhibitions, and programming this fall is just one way we hope to make the museum more accessible to all.

Image via The City of Santa Cruz