The third Dia de los Muertos Celebration in Santa Barbara, CA will be held on Friday, October 30 at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Doors are at 4:00 PM. Once again, the musical offerings will include some of the most influential contemporary Latin bands and DJs including: Kinky, Bomba Estéreo, La Santa Cecilia and Chicano Batman plus Conjunto Zacamandu and returning guest DJ Carlos Niño. Art, dance and cultural revelry includes: Danza Azteca, Chinelo Dancers, Ballet Folklorico and so much more. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 11 at 11:00 AM.

For one night the historic Santa Barbara Bowl will be transformed into a magical place inspired by the Day of the Dead festivities in Oaxaca, Mexico. This all encompassing community event will showcase local theatre, dance, art installations and altars made by local organizations, schools and museums. Mariachis will roam the costumed crowds, Aztec dancers will perform and bless the altars and skeleton faces will be painted.We look forward to coming together to celebrate life by remembering the dead with this very special event.

Kinky spent years honing their highly original sound, a fusion of Latin Rhythms, Mexican regional music, electronica and rock’n’roll, in their hometown of Monterrey, in Northern Mexico. They gave Chris Allison, (Coldplay, Beta Band), a three song demo presented on a lovely cassette tape in the winter of 1999 while he was producing Plastilina Mosh. Six months later he signed them to his Sonic360 label and they were off and running. The five-man band - Gilberto Cerezo (vocals, guitar), Ulises Lozano (keyboards), Carlos Chairez (lead guitar), Cesar Pliego (bass) and Omar Gongora (drums) - exploded onto the international scene in the summer of 2000. Since 2002, the band has recorded three eclectic albums - Kinky (2002), Atlas (2003) and Reina (2006) - been nominated for three Grammy’s® , composed music for films and played countless gigs all over the planet in front of hundreds of thousands, inducing dance floor hysteria and winning legions of enthusiastic fans.

Bomba Estéreo is a band fronted by singer Liliana Saumet and multi-instrumentalist Simon Mejía.
In 2012, Bomba Estéreo released their sophomore album ‘Estalla’, which lead them to be named the Best New Artist by iTunes Latin Editor’s Choice and ‘Revista Semana’, Colombia’s most influential magazine. Bomba Estéreo’s 2013 album ‘Elegancia Tropical’, which features popular singles ‘Pure Love’ and ‘Que Bonito’, was nominated for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ for the 14th Latin GRAMMY Awards. The band has performed at some of the world’s largest music festivals including Coachella, Bonnaroo, SXSW, Lollapalooza, Vive Latino, Outside Lands, and Glastonbury. Their single ‘Fuego’ has been licensed several times including to the film ‘Limitless’ starring Bradley Cooper, The game ‘FIFA ’10’ from EA Sports, and the TV Shows ‘Dexter’, ‘House’ and ‘CSI Miami’ among others. First new single "Fiesta," released March 10th, is a party anthem dripping with bass and champeta rhythms - an homage to the carnivals of their native Colombia. Ricky Reed of the Oakland hip-hop/pop collective Wallpaper produced the track, in addition to the rest of the 10-track album.

La Santa Cecilia consists accordionist and requintero Jose Carlos, bassist Alex Bendana, percussionist Miguel Ramirez and lead vocalist Marisoul, whose captivating voice sings about love, loss and heartbreak. Their influences range from Miles Davis to The Beatles, Zeppelin to Janis Joplin and Mercedes Sosa to Ramon Ayala. La Santa Cecilia’s self-titled EP was recorded at Lo-Fi Studios in San Bernardino and the legendary Westlake Recording Studios in Hollywood. Their song “Chicle” was featured on the Emmy award-winning series Weeds, the independent feature Dish, and the documentary Re-Encounters about Oaxacan artist Alejandro Santiago. The band also held a two-week residence for the L.A. Philharmonic- sponsored children's show Summer Sounds, where they performed their songs and acted so as to educate the community of Los Angeles on their very own cultural treasures.

Chicano Batman is your sonic outlet from the monotonous, back into the soul. Ethnomusicologists in their own right, they are students of rhythm, globe trotting on a quest to reclaim and represent the musical roots of their past generations. Drawing from a broad range of 60s and early 70s Brazilian bossa nova and samba, spacey psychedelia, slow-jam soul with a pinch of surf-rock cumbia, the quartet uniforms their act in retro ruffled-tuxedo shirts from a thrift store near you. Chicano Batman is more than a musical force but an adventurous and opinionated superhero who feeds off of community, afro-centricity and bolillos, on a mission to bring the overlooked to the forefront.

Joining them will be Conjunto Zacamandu and Los Angeles DJ Carlos Niño, spinning his very special collection of mystical / folkloric vinyl.

Don’t miss this one of a kind cultural celebration with performances by Kinky, Bomba Estéreo, La Santa Cecilia and Chicano Batman with special guests Conjunto Zacamandu and DJ Carlos Niño at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday, October 30. 

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