Opening Night — October 22, 2021 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

October 23, 2021

Sugar Skulls
10am, 11:30am, 1pm | Upstairs OMH Gallery
Mexico possesses a rich and complex relationship with death that extends far beyond the Day of the Dead holiday and its iconic sugar skulls. In this workshop you will receive an introduction to the customs of Día de los Muertos and the symbolism of the sugar skull. Participants will be taken through the sugar skull making process step by step, and then create their very own skull art. All materials provided.

Skeleton + Katrina Masks
10am, 11:30am, 1pm | Breckenridge Theater Patio
Inspired by sugar skull face painting, you will learn how to decorate your own unique Day of the Dead mask. But unlike face paint, you won’t have to wash your mask off at the end of the celebration. Mask making is an ancient form of celebration and reverence in Mexico. Choose from either a Skeleton Face or the iconic Katrina made famous by Jose Posada in 1913. This workshop is part of a two-day celebration of Día de los Muertos that features a variety of classes and family activities with bilingual instructors from MSU Denver.

Loteria
10am, 11:30am, 1pm | Quandary Art Cabin
Loteria is a game of chance, similar to bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of plain numbers on ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one tabla, a board with a randomly created 4 x 4 grid of pictures with their corresponding name and number. Create your own Dia de Los Muertos Loteria card in this fun filled workshop.

Grupo Huitzilopochtli Performance
11:30am + 2pm | Blue River Plaza
Día de los Muertos demonstrates a strong sense of love and respect for one’s ancestors, celebrates the continuance of life, family relationships, and community solidarity, and allows people to talk about and find humor in death. The Aztec Dance grupo Huitzilopochtli has created a special Aztec show, based on Aztec mythology, to celebrate Día de los Muertos. The dancers perform the Battle Dance which features two Aztec warriors. When one of the warriors perishes, his soul is greeted by another soul who leads him to his next life in the Aztec underworld of Mictlan, where the dead dwell. The sequence ends when the souls who reside in Mictlan perform the Día de los Muertos Dance.”

Grupo Huitzilopochtli Dance Workshop
2:30pm | Breckenridge Theatre Patio
Learn the history and significance of the danza to Dia de Los Muertos. The Mexica Grupo Huitzilopochtli has been in the Denver area for 40 years and is under the direction of Capitan Raul Chavez a 5th generation danzante from Mazatlan Mexico. This hands-on dance workshop will prepare families for the candlelight vigil on Saturday night and the Altar dedication on Sunday. Participants will be able to join in one of the grupos sacred dances for these two events if they wish.

Ofrenda Demonstration
3pm | Old Masonic Hall Patio
Creating oferendas is one of the most important traditions during Day of the Dead in Mexico—and in Mexican-American & Latinx communities worldwide. Oftentimes a photograph of the deceased is placed within the oferenda which is usually built in a three-tier pyramid type structure. A traditional ofrenda includes the four elements of wind, fire, water and earth, represented through papel picado (wind), candles (fire), beverages (water) and flowers (earth). Instructions/demo & history of the altar will be given, so that families can recreate their own oferenda at home.
In partnership with Metropolitan State University Of Denver Department of Chicana/Studies, CHAC Gallery & Cultural Center and Cal Duran

FILM: La Leyenda de Chupacabra
4pm | Breckenridge Theater Patio
In the fourth installment of the Mexican animated ‘Leyenda’ sagas, Leo San Juan and his gang will take on the legend of the Chupacabras. Register HERE

October 24, 2021

Pan de Muerto Workshop
11am, 1pm | Old Masonic Hall Upstairs Gallery
This year’s Pan de Muerto workshop is presented by Silvia Hernandez, the owner of La Catrina Grill. Hernandez was born in Mexico City and went on to study gastronomy in the city, encouraged by her mother who was part of the industry herself. Silvia later came to Denver looking for new horizons, having dreamed of opening her own business, and in 2016 La Catrina Grill was born. She always offers dishes or workshops with a touch of Mexico in mind.

Face Painting
11am-2pm | Old Masonic Hall Patio
Payasita Paletita also known as Lolipop, will provide face paintings and can pose for photos with other Catrinas and Calaveras for Día de los Muertos.

Ofrenda Installation: Adrian Marban
10:30am-2pm | | Old Masonic Hall Upstairs Gallery
To Adrian the altar is the sacred place that we decide on to honor our beloved people who passed away. The altar is the combination of our Christian faith and Prehispanic traditions where we place the offerings for our deceased. Besides the favorite requests of the deceased, the altar must have the primary items which are: bread, water, candles and cempasúchil flowers –the traditional yellow flower for the death. The altar also is ornamented with sacred images, colorful papel picado known as cut paper and incense.

Mexican Cultural Center Market
10:30am-2pm | | Old Masonic Hall Upstairs Gallery
The MCC will be selling traditional Dia de los Muertos gifts and ornaments as well as other traditional Mexican goods, including Pan de Muerto.