The Día de los Muertos celebration at Hemisfair, also known as Muertos Fest, has drawn national attention in part for its “rows of vibrant ofrendas layered in marigolds, monarchs, and cherished photos” in what is considered the city’s largest altar display, according to National Geographic magazine.
But for the festival’s artistic director Jim Mendiola, Muertos Fest is popular among San Antonians because it’s a genuinely homegrown event.
“We definitely draw inspiration from some of the community groups who’ve been doing this a lot longer than us,” he said, naming the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and Centro Cultural Aztlan.
“We’re on the shoulders of a lot of these smaller cultural organizations,” Mendiola said.
Day of the Dead is a Mexican and Central American tradition of paying homage to loved ones and popular figures who have died that goes back centuries, Mendiola said. Art-focused community groups in California began popularizing it in the 1970s as a facet of emerging Chicano identity, and the phenomenon has spread.
Mendiola said that the tradition, now celebrated as an annual holiday in the U.S. and Mexico, has gained wide appeal because “the instinct to remember who came before you is universal. Everyone’s got grandparents, everyone has mothers and fathers … that’s why it’s got this cross-cultural appeal that’s represented in the crowds we get.”
Mendiola expects 130,000 visitors to the Hemisfair grounds over the two-day festival this Saturday and Sunday, all of whom will enjoy free admission.
Local live music abounds
Now in its 12th year, Muertos Fest continues its tradition of presenting a full roster of live music. San Antonio indie rock band Girl in a Coma will reunite onstage as the festival’s headliners at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, preceded by Mexican punk marimba band Son Rompe Pera.
Other local acts include Santiago Jimenez Jr., Jesse Borrego y Tribú, Piñata Protest, Chavela, and Mariachi Campanas de America. Mendiola said Eddie and the Valiants, normally dedicated to the West Side Sound, will play a Día de los Muertos-themed set in honor of conjunto legend Joe Jama.
But the live music and roster of DJs is only one aspect of Muertos Fest, he said. A traditional procession will wind through Hemisfair on both days, mingling parade-ready festivalgoers with commissioned artists.
Expect to see an homage to legendary Corpus Christi musician and television host Johnny Canales, known for first featuring Selena on his show, among the processioners, Mendiola said.
Community as centerpiece
The centerpiece of Muertos Fest is its monumental community altar, an inclusionary tradition that invites San Antonians to donate memorabilia and artifacts honoring loved ones.
Cat Cardenas, curator of the festival’s Muertos Mercado featuring local vendors, also organized the sizeable Muertos Fest altar display this year.
Nearly 90 members of the community will contribute handmade altars to the festival in a display that will wind through Civic Park and the Nueva Street throughway of Hemisfair.
Altar makers compete for a modest cash prize, which inspires some serious efforts, Cardenas said. Two San Antonio families, the Garcias and the Gardeas, have traded top honors in recent years, and both expect to capture the attention of festivalgoers this year, she said.
Though the altar makers tend to keep their efforts under wraps until the event, Cardenas hinted that the Garcias, who took first place with a version of their grandmother’s kitchen last year, will create a church-themed altar this year. She’s also looking forward to seeing the Gardeas’ super tall calaveras display.
The Gardeas treat the event as a reason to gather as a family, Cardenas said, playing loteria during evenings preparing the altar. “They bring food and they have a little party around building the altar. It’s really fun,” she said.
Free family fun
Mendiola said that like the holiday itself, such family traditions can extend to inspire others to join in.
“What we’re seeing over the [past] 12 years is people will go there and see these altars, who have never made them before, and then come back the next year as altar makers,” he said.
Accessibility to the public is a key component to Muertos Fest’s success, he said. Mendiola and his partner Faith Radle, who programs the festival’s music lineup, said they took inspiration from a popular Los Angeles Día de los Muertos event held at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. But unlike that event, which costs $45 per person, Muertos Fest is free to attend.
“And it will always remain free,” Mendiola said.
Cardenas recommended downloading the free Muertos Fest app to help navigate the festival layout and schedule of events.
