Presented by the National Minority Quality Forum, Phoenix’s Largest Free Día de los Muertos Celebration Features New VIP Experience, Free Health Screenings, and Over 60 Vendors.
PHOENIX, AZ – Cultural Coalition is proud to host its 14th annual Mikiztli: Día de los Muertos Festival, presented by the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF). This vibrant, free community celebration of life and remembrance returns this Saturday, November 1, from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Arizona Center in Downtown Phoenix.
The festival offers an immersive cultural experience, rooted in the sacred traditions of the holiday. Attendees are invited to arrive early for the Mercado Hour, running from 4 to 5 p.m., to shop from over 60 different vendors, including local artists, small businesses, and food trucks.
The main entertainment begins at 5 p.m., featuring spectacular traditional dances and live music. Headlining the stage this year will be acclaimed artist QVLN (Quetzal Guerrero) and the powerful performance group Indigenous Enterprise, bringing a dynamic blend of contemporary and cultural sights and sounds. The festival also includes a large-scale Community Ofrenda (altar), where the public is welcome to add their own photographs and offerings to honor their loved ones.
New Experiences and Community Focus
New for 2025 is the Calaca Cantina 21+ experience. For a $30 donation, guests can enjoy premium seating with excellent stage views, mezcal tastings sponsored by Casa Pineda, and receive a swag bag full of items from local businesses.
In partnership with the presenting sponsor, the National Minority Quality Forum will operate a Mini Clinic offering valuable community health services. Attendees can receive free blood pressure screenings, glucose testing, and cholesterol readings, in addition to educational resources on important topics like COVID-19 vaccines.
Families are encouraged to participate in a variety of free arts and crafts, including mask making, contributing to a community mural, and face painting. A free photobooth will also be available for printed photos, and local artists will be featured in live painting demonstrations.
This event is free for all, made possible by generous support from: Phoenix Office of Arts & Culture, Arizona Community Foundation, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Raza Development Fund, SRP, OneAZ Credit Union, ASU Barrett, The Honors College, Chicanos Por La Causa, National Endowment of the Arts, and Creative West.
For more information, Calaca Cantina tickets, and event parking details, visit diadelosmuertosphx.com.
FESTIVAL DETAILS:
WHEN: Saturday, November 1, 2025 from 4 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Arizona Center – 455 N 3rd St, Phoenix, AZ 85004
COST: Free
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Additional photographs and artist interviews available upon request.
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ABOUT CULTURAL COALITION, INC
Cultural Coalition, Inc. is a local non-profit whose mission is to connect communities and generations to ancestral knowledge and practices through artistic cultural preservation and programs that celebrate Chicano, Latiné, and Indigenous heritages. For nearly 30 years, we have been committed to supporting local artists while providing free access to youth arts education. We are dedicated to the education, promotion, and development of artists throughout Arizona and serve our community with much needed artistic programs that highlight and amplify the cultural diversity of the Valley of the Sun.
ABOUT MIKITZLI
In 2018, Cultural Coalition, Inc. changed the name of their annual Dia de los Muertos Festival to “Mikitztli” because of the blatant commercialization and cultural appropriation of El Dia de Los Muertos theme and its related imagery.
In order to better communicate and share this ancient indigenous cosmo-vision, they decolonized the name of their festival to Mikiztli – pronounced [meeh-keesh-tleeh] – which means “transition” and is symbolized as the “calaca” or “the smiling skull”.
In the Nahuatl language, the name given to this celebration is Mihcailhuitl [meeh-kah-ell-ooueeh-tl] and translated means “the feast of the spirits.”
ABOUT NATIONAL MINORITY QUALITY FORUM
Founded in 1998, National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) is a United States-based, health care research, education and advocacy organization whose mission is to reduce patient risk of hospitalizations, emergency room visits, disabilities, and death, while also promoting high-quality, long lives, particularly for the most vulnerable. They do this by using data and research to support and mobilize healthcare organizations, leaders, policymakers, and patients in advocating for optimal care for every individual, especially those in minoritized populations.