Phoenix’s largest Day of the Dead celebration honors our lost loved ones!

Cultural Coalition is proud to present MIKIZTLI – [mee-kish-tlee] the 9th annual Dia de Los Muertos Phoenix Festival on Sunday, October 25, 2020 starting at 2 p.m. The event is FREE, and will be streamed live on Cultural Coalition social media platforms: YouTube, Facebook and IGTV.

This year, the altar (ofrenda) will be dedicated to those beloved ones lost during the pandemic. Zarco Guerrero, Board President of the Cultural Coalition says: “Dia de Los Muertos was originally called Micailhuitl, the Feast of the Spirits. And took place in many regions of ancient Mexico. Today in Phoenix, we call our festival Mikiztli [meeh-keesh-tleeh] (although its true meaning is not death but transcendence), it is symbolized by the Calaca [kah-lah-kah] or smiling skull, that entices and invites us to dance.”

Cultural Coalition invites families to participate in this virtual event in remembrance of those who have passed and in celebration of life. All virtual attendees are welcomed to observe a collective moment of silence during the traditional candlelight procession led by “Las Flacas”, the 8-foot-tall animated skeleton puppets, on their way to the community altar.

Sunday, October 25th, 2020 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Live stream on Cultural Coalition YouTube, Facebook & Instagram pages Free with opportunities to donate to support our local artists!

Opportunity to purchase raffle tickets to win original pieces of art by local artists including a hand-made Mask by Zarco Guerrero! Highlighting the importance of the event’s cultural history, a variety of performances by community favorites from past celebrations will be featured including Aztec dances, Mariachi music, Ballet Folkorico performances, and more!

Visit diadelosmuertosphx.com or facebook.com/culturalcoalitionaz for more information and updates to the schedule of performances.

This event was made possible through the support of the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Arizona Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

ABOUT CULTURAL COALITION, INC

Cultural Coalition, Inc. is a local non-profit who has committed to supporting indigenous artists and encouraging youth arts education for over 25 years. We are dedicated to the education, promotion, and development of indigenous artists throughout Arizona. We provide 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 ARIZONA HUMANITIES

Mission: Arizona Humanities builds a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our shared human experiences through discussion, learning and reflection.

Arizona Humanities is a statewide 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and the Arizona affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 1973, Arizona Humanities has supported public programs that promote understand of the human experience with cultural, educational, and nonprofit organizations across Arizona. http://azhumanities.org

ABOUT NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES AND NEH CARES FUNDING

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. The National Endowment for the Humanities supports research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

As part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) received an additional $75 million in supplemental funding to distribute as emergency relief to cultural institutions affected by the coronavirus.

Nearly $30 million of this funding has already been distributed to the state and jurisdictional humanities councils for local re-granting. The remainder will be distributed from NEH in direct grants to institutions and individuals through new NEH CARES funding opportunities.

ABOUT THE CITY OF PHOENIX OFFICE OF ARTS AND CULTURE

The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture was established in 1985 to champion and sustain the City's arts and culture community to make Phoenix a great place to live, work, and visit.

FOLLOW CULTURAL COALITION INC

Websites www.culturalcoalition.com and www. diadelosmuertosphx.com

Facebook  @culturalcoalitionaz

Instagram @culturalcoaz

Twitter @CulturalCoAz

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO0jr6_LCCMy-oiGHyXQemg