Flushing Town Hall will celebrate Día de los Muertos, Mexican art and culture, and community resilience with its inaugural MexFest.
The festival includes an exhibition, anchored by a community ofrenda (on display October 15 - November 30), and a Saturday, November 1st celebration of Día de los Muertos that includes a musical concert, participatory artmarking and story gathering activities of remembrance.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Leading up to November 1st, Flushing Town Hall is inviting community members to contribute mementos of their loved ones to Flushing Town Hall until October 30th. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 11am-4pm until October 30th, all are encouraged to contribute to the exhibition with ofrendas, or offerings, which will be featured at the community altar. Ofrendas can include flowers, photos, and other small objects that celebrate the memory of another person. The central altar will be curated and co-created by artists Aurelia Fernández, Arantxa Araujo, and Xtian Ávila, and will be part of a larger participatory mural, serving as a space for communal storytelling.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIITION:
At MexFest, and also from October 15-November 30, 2025, visitors to Flushing Town Hall can experience MexFest 2025: Día de los Muertos | Rituales de Resiliencia Exhibition, a multidisciplinary arts exhibition honoring Día de los Muertos. The exhibition includes works by prominent, local artists Blanka Amezcua, Raul Martinez, & Gabriel Garcia Roman, among others.
ON DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS:
On Saturday, November 1, FTH hosts a free, celebratory evening program from 6PM - 7:30PM where visitors can:
Create colorful papel picado, a traditional Mexican craft
Tell their stories and testimonials of grief and loss during a writing workshop and film.
Share words to remember a loved one on a community mural.
Contribute to a community altar with an ofrenda, or offering, in memory of a lost loved one.
And at 7:30PM FTH will present a Mexican Mashup Concert featuring performances from Linda EPO and Mariachi Tapatio de Alvaro Paulino. The concert brings together two distinct New York-based Mexican music bands, during which guests can enjoy dedicated sets from each band, a combined jam session where both bands perform together, and a dance lesson. Queens native Linda EPO is a dynamic singer and pianist known for her vibrant energy and stage presence, whose transcendent performances blur cultural boundaries. Alvaro Paulino Jr., Musical Director of Mariachi Tapatío de Alvaro Paulino, is a fifth-generation mariachi musician who was proclaimed by the State of New York as "The Northeast's Finest Mariachi."
Concert tickets can be purchased at the Flushing Town Hall website.
MexFest programming is an opportunity to celebrate culture with Mexican traditions while making space to grieve loved ones through impactful rituals, communal art making and musical performances. MexFest attendees can expect to enjoy colorful, fun activities like dance and art-making while celebrating with rituals in their community.
Day of the Dead is a joyful holiday with indigenous roots, dating back centuries in Aztec tradition, later mixed with Spanish and Catholic traditions. People still celebrate the holiday today in Mexico, alongside global communities in Central, South America, the United States, and the Philippines, to remember lost loved ones with a celebration of life.