For 20 years, the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach has hosted an annual Día De Los Muertos festival. This year’s free event takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m on October 29. The theme, Hecho con Amor, which translates to Made with Love, highlights the role of food in Latin American culture.
“For MOLA, Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a way to celebrate and remember and honor people who we love and have passed away. But it's also a way to reconnect with our cultural ties, and show ancestry and our pride, especially amongst communities here in Southern California,” says Alison Heney, the museum’s organizer of the festival. “So in addition to our ofrenda, our community altar, which is in front of the museum, we also have a series of mini altars … dedicated to loved ones, co-workers, family and friends.”
She says that on the altars, people place food that their deceased loved ones enjoyed eating. “So it could be, for example, their favorite soup, or enchilada or tamale. But food also helps sustain us. And it comes with this very rich tradition of generations and cross-cultural dialogues — for example, horchata and … its roots in Africa, moving through Latin America; or the tradition of corn and tortilla making.… So this year, we really wanted to focus on celebrating cross-cultural identities, especially here in Southern California.”
She adds that food ties to our memories: “The sense of smell, you can taste something, and it's a very powerful, visceral reality. And especially … if you're making something from a family member or recipe.”
The festival will also feature food vendors, musicians such as Ballet Folklorico Nueva Antequera and DJ Caveman, and workshops on painting sugar skulls and printmaking.
Event goers could even take home cash if they win the traditional La Catrina dress-up contest. Heney explains, “This is part of the heritage of Day of the Dead as well, which developed a lot out of the art of José Guadalupe Posada. So we really want to pay homage to … that artistic intent.… We're inviting members of the public to come dressed as a Catrina/Catrine or a variation in there as well. Grand prize for the adult category is $500.”