Cozumel’s Museum of the Island Hosts Day of the Dead Festival ‘Tradition, Light and Reunion’

Cozumel, Quintana Roo — Music, dance, theater and visual arts will take over the Museum of the Island from Friday, Oct. 23, through Sunday, Oct. 25, as the Cozumel park and museum foundation stages the second edition of its Day of the Dead festival, “Tradition, Light and Reunion.”

Each night’s program begins at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free.

Juanita Alonso Marrufo, director general of the Fundación de Parques y Museos de Cozumel (FPMC), described the event as a living, community festival. She said several departments of the foundation take part in organizing it, alongside artists, dancers, actors, musicians, students and local and state groups who contribute their talent to celebrate the island’s roots and keep alive the memory of those who have gone before.

What’s on each night

The festival opens Friday with the lighting of a commemorative mural and a performance by the FPMC Choir. Visitors can then tour the group exhibition “Day of the Dead,” view a school display of papier-mâché catrinas and visit two altars: one dedicated to Michoacán, the guest state for this edition, and another to Hanal Pixán, the Maya “food of the dead” tradition.

Saturday’s program features a videomapping projection and “Paths of Memory and Tradition,” a journey of souls told through Michoacán dance and music with performances by Encantos de mi Cultura and Canoa Ancestral. The evening continues with “Zací, the Echo of an Immortal Love,” presented by Tzunúm, and closes with a Night of Dance, “Cana al Aire,” featuring live music and popular dancing.

On Sunday, the videomapping returns along with a stage adaptation of an excerpt from Elena Garro’s novel “A Solid Home.” The night also includes a catrina characterization contest and a performance by the ballet company of Quintana Roo’s Institute of Culture and the Arts (ICA). The festival ends with an awards ceremony, the farewell of the souls and the official closing.

Alonso Marrufo said the festival is the result of collective work and the talent of the community itself, which for a second year has made the space in front of the Museum of the Island its own for a celebration “full of identity, memory and tradition.”

The FPMC invited residents and visitors to attend all three nights of the festival, which runs Oct. 23-25 at the Museum of the Island starting at 7:30 p.m., with free entry.