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About the Noche de Altares Festival
The Past, Now and the Present
Noche de Altares festival is a cultural event conducted on the Mexican culture that is based on the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It started in 2002 as a locally focused happening in Santa Ana, California, established to retain ancestral practices even though establishing space of new narratives and voices. The festival attracts thousands of visitors every year to watch the beauty of life, remembrance and cultural expression of the festival.
What is Special about Noche de Altares
Unlike other festivals Noche de Altares is not about spectacle, it is about meaning. The people construct altars, most commonly referred to as ofrendas, in memory of the deceased loved ones or to highlight issues that plague our societies. There are photos, candles, marigolds, food, and other items with symbolic meaning on these altars, and each of them tells a personal story made in a common space.
The festival turns into the archive of memories, emotions, and resistance, as it unites people because of their heritage and common sensibility.
An Authentically Great Festival
The difference of this festival is that it is extensively grass-roots in spirit. The event has grown significantly regardless of being organised and motivated by volunteers. Students, families and artists join together, as well as activists and put their efforts and creativity in changing the city into a shining memorial to life and memorization.
Be it the procession through the streets of altars, performances by folkloric dancers or trying a piece of pan de muerto by some local street seller, you are being reminded about the strength of a community and its culture.
Based on the Day of the Dead
Noche de Altares festival is in fact inspired by the Dia los Muertos tradition that has its roots date back to centuries ago. And it also changes every year, depending on the voices of its current participants: to memorize the migrants and those who are missing; or to celebrate cultural figures and relatives. It is very conservative and yet incredibly current at the same time.
A City Grows Festival That Grows
Noche de Altares is altered as Santa Ana has altered. This festival is getting larger, is gaining more and more scope and recognition and remains faithful to its origins. It has become one of the most eager cultural events of the area– not only to the Latino Community but to everyone who would love to know, share and to understand life at its real complexity.