South Valley splendor: Muertos y Marigolds features procession, art, car show in honor of Día de los Muertos

In the South Valley, Día de los Muertos isn’t just about celebrating the dead, it’s about empowering people to come together and talk about issues regarding the community.

For 32 years, the South Valley community has put on the Dia de los Muertos event — Muertos y Marigolds— to inspire community members to embrace their culture and have a precession to honor ancestors who have passed.

South Valley splendor: Muertos y Marigolds features procession, art, car show in honor of Día de los Muertos

This year’s event will take place on Sunday, Nov. 3, at Rio Bravo County Park.

Xavier Avila, project director for the event, said the celebration aims to “elevate Chicano culture, especially centered in the South Valley.”

“We are a Chicano arts organization and the primary function is to elevate Chicano artists from Albuquerque,” Avila said. “We try to focus on artists from the South Valley.”

Though there are several Día de los Muertos events throughout New Mexico, Avila said what sets their celebration apart from others is the long history behind it and that it has always been influenced and controlled by South Valley community members.

“I think what makes our event separate, or rather, really distinguishes (it from) the other activities happening in town, is that we were really focused on using our cultural narrative to facilitate political conversation and to encourage our community to interact with their culture in a thoughtful way to be able to see themselves within the historical context,” Avila said.

“As Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Southwest in general, sort of re-embraces the cultural artifact, we understand that every community will sort of begin to have its own version of this,” he added. “We’re very happy (about) this event being by the South Valley for the South Valley, so we’re not trying to compete with anybody else.”

During the celebration, attendees will be able to participate in various events including an art market, where Latino artists will present their work to the community, both for sale and for viewing.

“As an organization, our focus is elevating Chicano art, empowering Chicano artists and encouraging them to interact with their larger community, with their government, within their cultural context,” Avila said. “There will be artists selling their own work in their own booths. Some of the artists that we use during our annual workshop season, we host.”

The event will also give people, who serve the community, an opportunity to engage with the public. Local nonprofits, harm reduction organizations and mutual aid groups will be present to help people learn about local resources.

Food trucks will be onsite to provide various offerings during the event. Guests can also see a car club exhibit during the event to celebrate Chicano culture.

“Our clubs are a relatively modern aspect of Chicano culture and something we always try to include,” Avila said.

Avila wants to remind the community to not only engage in important conversations, but to also remember to be respectful of tradition and the history behind Día de los Muertos.

“We’ve been criticized for being too political, and we’re of the opinion that to exist as a Chicano, as a mixed indigenous person, that your existence is political and that our cultural artifacts are political, until our existence is no longer political, then we must perceive ourselves that way,” Avila said.