The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) will host a free family day to celebrate Día de los Muertos, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20 at the museum’s Front Terrace, Family Resource Center, and galleries.

For the 35th year, the museum will honor the Mexican tradition of remembering the dead in a variety of ways including altar displays, art activities, live music, and dance performances.

There will also be a Day of the Dead Calenda, or procession, that will go from the SBMA to the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) starting at 4 p.m. Gather on SBMA’s Front Terrace. Admission to the family event and to both museums is free.

Inspired by Día de los Muertos traditions and works of art currently on view in the SBMA galleries, the event’s art activities include Alfredo Ramos Martínez-inspired Still Life Collage & Skull Charms, Rufino Tamayo-inspired newspaper Nichos, and Paper Flower Headdresses to wear in the procession.

The Day of the Dead Calenda, which will conclude the festivities, is reminiscent of a traditional celebration in Oaxaca, Mexico, that represents the expression of joy, the strengthening of family, community and personal bonds.

Among the featured troupes in the calenda will be traditional music and dances from the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, such as the Banda de Viento de San Jorge de Oaxaca, Lico Music Academy; and dances from the Mixtec region of Oaxaca.



At MCASB in the Arts Terrace at Paseo Nuevo, there will be an altar of the dead, authentic Oaxacan cuisine, art vendors, and a dance party by the group Los Hijos de San Juan Mixtepec.