Ballet Folklorico dancers wear skeleton costumes during Dia de Los Muertos in 2011. (NNS file photo)

Dia de Los Muertos is a Mexican holiday that reunites the living and the dead through ofrendas (offerings/altars), face painting, music and more. Although it’s traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2, you don’t have to wait until then.

Here is a list of Dia de Los Muertos events in Milwaukee starting this weekend that you and your family can attend.

Advertisement

Latino Arts Inc.:  Now through Nov. 17

Latino Arts Inc. is hosting a Day of the Dead Ofrendas exhibit at its Latino Arts Gallery at 1028 S. 9th St., inside the United Community Center. The exhibit features installations from the Mexican Consulate, local schools and artists. The recommended donation to visit the exhibit is $1. The organization will also host a Café con Arte event at the gallery on Thursday, Oct. 26 and a Day of the Dead Concert by Tres Souls on Nov. 3. Registration is $5. More information here.

Walker’s Point Center for the Arts: Friday, Oct. 27

Walker’s Point Center for the Arts will host its 31st annual Dia de Los Muertos Exhibition from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27 at 839 S. 5th St. The exhibit will feature community altars from several Milwaukee schools, organizations and artists. School groups, organizations and others can request trips to the exhibition and personalized activities. More information here.

 Dia de Los Muertos at the Domes  Friday, Oct. 27

Friends of the Domes will hold a Dias de Los Muertos celebration from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27 at the Mitchell Park Domes, 524 S. Layton Blvd. The event will include music, dancing, food and art vendors, a decorated Desert Dome and ofrendas. Admission is $16 and no tickets will be sold at the door. More information here.

Dia de Los Muertos Festival and 5K Saturday, Oct. 28

The festival and 5K event will once again take place on Saturday, Oct. 28 at Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum, 2405 W. Forest Home Ave. The event kicks off with face painting and registration at 8:30 a.m. and a run/walk at 9:30 a.m. A festival featuring arts and crafts, local vendors and food trucks, face painting, music and dance will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. More information here.

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Raised in a South Side neighborhood where he still lives, Edgar Mendez is the managing editor of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in journalism and sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in communication. He won a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and 2014, 2017, and 2018 Milwaukee Press Club Awards for his reporting on taverns, marijuana law enforcement, and lead in water service lines. In 2008, he won a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism. His writing has been published by the Associated Press, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media. He has also co-authored three articles published in scholarly journals.