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Pearl’s Día de los Muertos celebrations focus on tradition, but with a twist. Martha Martinez-Flores is Pearl’s cultural curator.
“We're very excited to welcome everyone back to Pearl this November 1st and 2nd to celebrate our annual Dia de los Muertos celebration,” Flores said. “This year we have eight altares or ofrendas. We have Anthony Quintanilla, who creates these beautiful, stunning altars made entirely out of reclaimed wood and reclaimed metal, reclaimed bottles.”
Another Pearl event this weekend is unlike most local Día de los Muertos celebrations because it doesn’t come from here.
“We are very, very excited to welcome for the first time in Texas, artists from the state of Guanajuato who will be creating a Tapete de Aserrín, or a sawdust rug,” Martinez-Flores said. “And it's going to be about 50 feet by 20 feet. And this is a tradition that goes back many, many centuries and many parts of the world.”
The Día de los Muertos celebration at Pearl is a nod to tradition but also has some innovative aspects as well.
“We are going to bring back our beautiful procession with Las Monas and Son Vidados, with the drummers and Bomba Bailar—18 dancers that are going to be going around campus. We're going to have Mariachi Mexica. So really, it's an exciting two-day event on November 1 during farmers market, we're going to have stilt-walkers and we're going to have some music popping up, but the main day is November 2, from five to 9pm,” she said.
Most events for Pearl’s Día de los Muertos are free and open to the public, though a few events are ticketed.
“Another installation we have is a beautiful tribute to the legendary singer Juan Gabriel by the Mexican Cultural Institute, who are our partners, and that's going to be outside Cured,” she said. “And we also have, for the first time, 10 mini altars, a much smaller scale altar, all around campus that were created by the students of Briscoe Elementary.”
Pearl’s cultural events have made it a more interesting place for residents there, as well as those who just come for these kinds of get-togethers.
“We want you to bring your family, bring your friends. Come honor people you love and come celebrate this beautiful tradition,” Flores said. “We are very proud of our Día de los Muertos (events). We always hold it on November 2nd, and it's really magical.”
