October 30 - 31, 2021
From MECA Houston:
“Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts (MECA), a Houston, Latino-based arts and community nonprofit organization committed to providing arts education, support services, and multicultural artistic performances and events, presents the 21st Annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Festival taking place at the Historic Dow School in the heart of Houston’s Old Sixth Ward located at 1900 Kane St. Houston, TX 77007 on Saturday, October 30, 2021 and Sunday, October 31, 2021 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In its 21st year, MECA’s Día de los Muertos is a FREE community celebration of Latin American folk art traditions that commemorate family and ancestry. Día de los Muertos is a culmination of pre-Colombian heritage and Catholic influence honoring the souls of the dead in a lively, cheerful celebration. Over the years, MECA’s Día de los Muertos celebration has flourished into a two-day festival boasting a variety of traditional foods, folk and fine arts, and three performance stages.
Each year, MECA also presents an Ofrendas (Altar) Exhibition, inviting community members to build an altar featuring photographs and personal belongings of their loved ones who have passed away. Curated by Luis Gavito, this year’s Día de los Muertos Ofrendas Exhibition will feature a community altar, as well as an altar dedicated to the lives lost due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Ofrendas Exhibition will be open to the public starting Monday, October 11 and during the Día de los Muertos Festival. MECA’s Ofrendas Exhibit hours are from Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 1900 Kane St. Houston, TX 77007. Guests will be asked to complete a temperature check upon entering the building and must wear a mask indoors while walking through the exhibition.
This year’s MECA Día de los Muertos Festival is presented by United Way of Greater Houston, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, The City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance and AARP Texas. This year’s festival will include special performances by MECA Ballet Folklorico, children’s art activities, cultural cuisine, an ofrendas/altar exhibit, artist and artisan vendors, festival delights and many more musical and dance performances by artists who will soon be announced.
About MECA: MECA began in 1977, growing out of the St. Joseph Fun ‘n Food Fest, the first citywide celebration of the various cultural groups that lived in inner-city Houston. St. Joseph Catholic Church in the Old Sixth Ward led the festival; the church’s pastor, Father Sam Rosales, asked MECA’s Founder and Executive Director, Alice E. Valdez, to build upon the spirit of community created by the festival by developing a program that would provide alternative arts activities for the city’s youth and families. MECA received 501(c)(3) status and was incorporated in 1979; in 1993, MECA moved to its current home in the historic Dow School building in the Old Sixth Ward. Built in 1912 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the school is currently undergoing restoration through MECA’s Dow School Rehabilitation Project. Today, MECA offers classes through the Out-of-School Program which includes classical and ethnic instrumental studies, as well as support services for families. For more information about MECA, please visit meca-houston.org. “
1900 Kane St.
Houston, 77007 TX
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