Lexington’s annual Día de los Muertos festival offered attendees music and dance performances and an opportunity to celebrate Hispanic heritage.

The festival was held on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Moondance Amphitheater by Lexington Parks and Recreation and Casa de la Cultura Kentucky, a group that offers programs and activities to promote and teach people about Hispanic culture, according to its website.

Día de los Muertos, also called Day of the Dead, is a holiday typically celebrated from Nov. 1-2 dedicated to paying respects to family members and loved ones who have passed away. 

According to Doreeyda Caloca, a member of one of the dance groups from Casa de la Cultura, some practices of the holiday have specific days for the celebration of other lives, like pets that passed away.

Vendors from Mexico and Ecuador set up at the festival selling crafts, food and baked goods. Set up with decorations and vendors were multiple ofrendas, or altars, to welcome the dead with food and activities.

Caloca said the holiday was about inviting the dead to join their family and friends for a day, which is why food is placed at the ofrendas.

Many of the ofrendas were decorated with orange flowers representing marigolds and pictures of monarch butterflies.

Casa de la Cultura volunteer Miranda Brown said that along with November being around the time monarch butterflies migrate to central Mexico, they are also said to be the souls of the deceased returning. She said the scent of marigolds are also meant to attract the dead.

“I think just generally, connection with our ancestors is really important, so having this and observing cultural heritage along those lines I think is really beneficial,” Brown said.

According to Lexington Parks and Recreation’s special events manager Jessica Shaw, Casa de la Cultura helped create and set up the decorations and art for the festival along with arranging its schedule of performing groups.

“I hope they learn, I hope they enjoy … I hope people that have never experienced this get to learn and come and admire the beauty of this holiday,” Shaw said.

Caloca said she thought most people see the Day of the Dead as a purely Mexican holiday, though multiple countries celebrate it. 

“I particularly love Day of the Dead because I think it showcases death in a new light, that it’s not always sad necessarily … It’s a way to remember them in a happier way,” Caloca said.

Caloca said she has been dancing for eight years and has specifically performed at the festival for four years. Her dance group focuses on regional dances spanning different Mexican states, 

“Each state has its own outfits, music and styles so we get to learn a little bit about everything,” Caloca said. “I think it’s a really cool way to showcase our culture because a lot of people are drawn to the bright colors and stuff. I feel like it also gets people moving, so it’s kind of like a mini-party.”

The festival featured dance performances and a mariachi band from Bryan Station High School, who played a few songs for the crowd.

As the sun set, a few fires were lit for people to roast marshmallows. Shaw said the festival also had storytellers that were out by the fires to tell stories in both English and Spanish.

Announcements made at the amphitheater were also made in English and Spanish and the event was attended by speakers of both languages.

Heather Hadi attended the event with her husband who is from Mexico along with their children.

Hadi said she thought the festival helped to bring awareness of both a culture that some people may not have a lot of knowledge on and one “that’s been somewhat demonized in the media.” 

“I think this is a really good way to bring some levity and bring people together for the hispanic community,” Hadi said.