Village Of The Arts Hosts Festival Of Skeletons, A Dia De Los Muertos Event, This Weekend

BRADENTON, FL — The Village of the Arts carries on its annual tradition of honoring Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead during its November art walk.

The 17th annual Festival of Skeletons, which takes place Friday, 6 to 9:30 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., artfully celebrates lost loved ones throughout the arts district.

Galleries, shops and restaurants in the Village of the Arts will offer special events and programming, including shrines dedicates to loved ones who have died in the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos.

"It's such an important day for our village. It's a commemorative Day of the Dead. All around the village, people are building shrines, and each different shrine has its own meaning," Paulie Nassar, director of community art for Village of the Arts and creative director for Adobe Graffiti Lounge Kava Bar, told Patch during the 2020 event. "Some are big and grand; some are small. It varies. But it's the whole village doing this. It's basically the one day a year everybody celebrates together."

Alfredo Garcia, artist and owner of the gallery Arte Coyoacano, said that while the event can be compared to Halloween in America, "it's more a celebration for dead loved ones and family."

"We put out shrines, food they liked, pictures of them," he added. "It's kind of a celebration of life, instead of death, and more related to our loved ones. There is nothing scary about it. It's very spiritual."

Businesses participating in this year’s Festival of Skeletons include:

• The Village Mystic (1017 12th Ave. West): Enjoy gemstone mining, live music from Jerry Shell and an outdoor crystal market.
• Birdrock Taco Shack (1213 13th Ave.): Enjoy live music from Soul Purpose IV reggae band
• Reworked Creations (1227 12th Street West): Create your own bead mosaic sugar skull. Proceeds benefit the Artists Guild of Manatee.
• Monark Custom Framing and Art Gallery (1207 13th Ave. West): Paint a sugar skull and check out offerings from different arts vendors.
• Joan Peters Gallery (1210 11th Ave. W.): Check out a display honoring the pioneers of the Village of the Arts, including Gordon Turner, Ruth Cade, Carl Keeler, Barbara Powell and Bill Johnson.
• Ortygia (1418 13th Street West): Enjoy live music from Ty Kirkland at this restaurant. Reservations are required.
• Jerk Dog Records (1119 12th Street West): Catch live music from St. Pete garage rockers Bad Vibrations and the shop’s house band, Thunder Shirt, Friday night.

Several galleries and shops, including the Jan Lewis Art Gallery and the Dancing Crane Gallery, will reopen this weekend after a summer hiatus.

The event also includes a community shrine at the corner of 12th Street and 11th Avenue. Attendees are invited to leave a memento on the memorial fence.

The Village of the Arts is located between 17th Avenue West and 9th Avenue West and between 14th Street West and 9th Street West. Learn more about the arts district online here.