Museum of Northern Arizona exterior

Local Hispanic cultures help inspire Day of the Dead traditions at the 10th Annual Celebraciones de la Gente

September 21, 2013

Autumn in Flagstaff brings with it crisp air, golden aspens and the annual Celebraciones de la Gente, an authentic celebration of Hispanic cultures featuring Day of the Dead activities at the Museum of Northern Arizona.

The 10th Celebraciones de la Gente, Saturday and Sunday, October 26 and 27, presents a lively look into traditions embraced by Mexican, Mexican American and Hispanic cultures. Museum grounds will be full of music, dancing, art demonstrations, artist booths, crafts, insightful programming, food and hands-on family activities.

Produced in partnership with Nuestra Raices, an organization of Flagstaff’s Hispanic pioneer families, the festival embraces customs of converting grief into stories, music, dance and fellowship. Nuestras Raices will inspire community involvement with presentations focusing on the history and significance of these ancient cultural traditions.

The Jaime Major Golightly Courtyard will be lined with Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead ofrendas — cultural offerings on altars — beckoning those who have passed. The public is invited to bring offerings for a community altar.

“This festival is a great opportunity for our local Hispanic neighbors to become a part of how we share and celebrate local history with our community,” says Museum Director Robert Breunig.

Dia de los Muertos traditions include celebrating the souls of ancestors to encourage a visit to the living: Candles are lit for each family member who has passed. Papel picado banners and sacred copal incense herald the celebration. Golden marigold flowers symbolize the brevity of life and lend a scented pathway to returning spirits. Calaveras (sugar skulls) tempt appetites to return.

Music & Dance
Ballet Folklorico de Colores will perform dance traditions from the Aztecs (Concheros); the Mexican states of Michoacan, Veracruz, and Jalisco; and dances from Revolución Mexicana.

Tucson’s Mariachi Sol Azteca musical ensemble will provide an opportunity to learn about Mexico’s rich musical heritage with instrumentation unique to mariachi traditions. Mariachi music is widely considered to be the quintessential Mexican music. This group joins voice with violins, trumpets, bass guitars and tenor guitars to create a progressive mariachi sound.

On Sunday only, Los Compadres will perform their favorites from 30 years of playing Mexican roots music in Flagstaff. Herman Ulibarri plays lead guitar, Frank Martinez, trumpet; Manny Ulibarri, guitar; Jesse Rodriguez, rhythm guitar and Trini Logan, bass guitar.

Local performers from the Borders Songs compilation album will give a presentation and performance to raise awareness and work toward the end of suffering along the U.S./Mexico border. Border Songs is a two-disc, 31-performance compilation featuring everything from spoken word to poetry and a variety of music genres in both English and Spanish.

Heritage Insight /Humanidades Percepción Presentations
Made possible by the Arizona Humanities Council

Nationally known performance artists Zarco and Carmen Guerrero will use folk music and theatrics to inspire audiences to seek an understanding of Day of the Dead themes in Mexico, Chile and Peru. They are a recognized force in the Southwest art scenes and have been performing at Dia de los Muertos celebrations for more than 25 years. (Saturday only.)

Meet filmmaker Carolyn Brown and watch her film From the Fields: An American Journey. The film documents the life of journalist Damian Trujillo who broke his family’s cycle of working in the fields. Brown will discuss the film, which goes beyond the rhetoric surrounding the immigration debate and delves into what it means to work, support a family and contribute to American society. Brown will also show a preview of The Salinas Project, a feature-length film about the children of migrant farm workers in The Salinas Valley.

Martin Espino, a Mexican-American musician and composer of indigenous Yaqui and Tepehuano ancestry, will share his heritage through stories and song. Espino spent over 25 years researching musical instruments. He has collaborated with indigenous musicians from Mexico, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Art & Activities
Flagstaff’s Southwest Eclectic Artists Association will spray paint a mural to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the festival. Painters will be using ancient and modern cultural images to create the mural in the east parking area.

Artists include painter Anthony Esparza, photographer Gina Santi, jeweler Ralph Sena, Day of the Day painter Emma Gardner and more.

Visitors also can start their own traditions in a sugar-skull making workshop, with storytelling, face painting or a papel picado workshop to create colorful cut paper decorations.

A Piñata for Pepita puppet show by docents will entertain all ages. In the story, Pepita is visiting from Mexico on her birthday. Her abuela (grandmother) is not sure what present to give her. Will she give her a bag of wool? Seeds? Bones? Find out what the perfect gift is for Pepita.

The 10th Celebraciones de la Gente is sponsored by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arizona ArtShare, the Arizona Humanities Council, the City of Flagstaff/BBB Revenues, Flagstaff Cultural Partners and the Coconino County Board of Supervisors.

The Museum of Northern Arizona is celebrating its 85th year of inspiring a sense of love and responsibility for the Colorado Plateau through collecting, studying, interpreting, and preserving the region’s natural and cultural heritage.

The Museum of Northern Arizona is at 3101 N. Fort Valley Road in Flagstaff, Arizona. For information, go to musnaz.org or call 928.774.5213.