The Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara is resurrecting its Día de los Muertos downtown procession after cancelling it last year due to fears of federal immigration enforcement activity. 

“We are bringing it back because our community’s need for healing and visibility is profound,” Dalia Garcia, executive director of Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, said in a statement to Noozhawk. 

However, museum staff told Noozhawk that fears surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity are prevalent.

“We are not (bringing it back) because the threats have disappeared. Concerns about ICE activity are still very real, and they will likely remain until we see meaningful changes in our government,” Garcia said.

Garcia also called on community members to serve as volunteer observers of ICE activity and be “community protectors” during the museum’s third Día de los Muertos Calenda, a procession through downtown Santa Barbara.

It is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 25, from 3:30 to 8 p.m. 

“We refuse to let fear silence our culture; we are taking proactive steps to protect this celebration,” she said. 

Día de Los Muertos, a Mexican holiday, is celebrated Nov. 1-2, and honors loved ones who have passed away. People traditionally celebrate by creating ofrendas — altars with photos of their loved one, flowers, and any food or trinket the individual enjoyed while alive. 

In Santa Barbara, the Calenda celebration will start at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St., at 3:30 p.m. before traveling down State and ending at De La Guerra Plaza, where a small market will take place.

The Calenda event intentionally centers the Mixteco, Zapoteco, Triqui and other Indigenous communities, Garcia said.

“This return is a deliberate act of cultural specificity and resistance,” she said.

Additionally, this year the procession will host Los Diablos de la Costa, dancers who represent the Afro-Indigenous community of the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico, according to Garcia.

“Through their dances, they remind us of the survival and indomitable spirit of a people who refuse to forget where they came from, and who continue to honor their ancestors that also built their homeland,” Garcia said.

On the same day, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art is hosting a free family day for its 37th celebration of the Mexican holiday, which features altar displays and art activities.