STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The community is invited to Fiesta de los Ancestros, or Festival of the Ancestors, on Saturday, Oct. 25.
The joyful celebration of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and Dia de los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased) will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at The Hunger Coalition’s Bloom Campus on Honeysuckle Lane in Bellevue.
The free, family-friendly event is presented by the Sun Valley Museum of Art and The Hunger Coalition. It honors the rich cultural traditions that commemorate loved ones who have passed. And it celebrates the beauty of life.
Ofrendas, or altars, and retablos built by community members will be displayed in The Hunger Coalition’s greenhouses. And there will be live music, traditional foods and art activities for all ages.
“Fiesta de los Ancestros" is a moment for us to pause, remember and celebrate the people who shaped our lives,” said Dianne Sánchez, director of Learning and Engagement at SVMoA. “When we gather to honor our ancestors, we’re reminded that love transcends time and that our community is strongest when we come together to share those memories, stories, and traditions across generations.”
Here’s what’s on tap:
The JARDIN DE RECUERDOS, or Garden of Memories, in the greenhouses will feature altars created by individuals, schools and representatives of local nonprofit organizations. Families and community members are encouraged to bring offerings and create their own orendas to honor cherished ancestors.
Participating organizations are The Alliance of Idaho, The Community Library, Hailey Public Library, The Space, Far + Wise, The Advocates, 5B Mental Health Initiative, The Senior Connection and numerous Wood River Valley schools
Attendees may create round button pins, t-anta wawa or bread figures and paper marigolds calavera They may also decorate diademas, or headbands, and have their faces painted with calavera, or skulls, which are traditional symbols of remembrance.
Son del Valle, a cumbia group from the Wood River Valley, will provide live music.
SVMoA and The Hunger Coalition will offer Mexican hot chocolate, pan de Muerto, conchas and other traditional treats. Local vendors will also be selling tacos and burritos.
ARTIST TALK THURSDAY NIGHT
Artist Nazafarin Lotfi and Curator Erin Joyce of Phoenix, will discuss Lofti’s work and the exhibit “Mending Across Borders & Boundaries” in a free conversation at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Sun Valley Museum of Art in Ketchum.
The exhibit features the work of Lofti and five other artists whose work address migration as an ongoing process of adaptation, healing and cultural negotiation.
Joyce co-curated the “Mending” exhibition with Courtney Gilbert. Lofti is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist, a Matakyev Reserch Fellow at the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands at Arizona State University and the founder of Hamrah Arts Club, a creative program for refugee-status youth.