For its third year in a row, the Santa Barbara Bowl came to life in celebrating Día de los Muertos on October 30^th. Every nook of the Bowl was filled with vibrant decoration, music, dance, and artwork. The crowd matched this brilliance with colorful outfits, beautifully painted faces, and a feel-good attitude that permeated the whole event. It was an evening teeming with entertainment and festive spirit.

Día de los Muertos is a Latin American holiday that celebrates family members and friends that have passed. Spirits of the deceased are said to wake up from their eternal rest to join the living during this holiday. Traditionally, it is celebrated from October 31^st to November 2^nd. When Spanish conquistadors were first introduced to the indigenous Aztecan holiday in the 1500’s, the holiday offended their Catholic sensibilities. Therefore, the Aztecs were forced to have it on those days to coincide with the Catholic observation of All Souls’ Day. In modern days, it has come to be a hybridization of the Aztecan celebration, All Souls’ Day, and Halloween. While it is often associated with Mexican culture, the holiday is celebrated throughout many Latin American cultures, including the thriving cultures in the US, as in our own community in Santa Barbara. It was during the Civil Rights Movement that Día de Los Muertos was popularized in the US. Mexican-Americans used the holiday as a means of building community and celebrating their cultural ancestry, while spreading awareness about Latin American culture in the US.

Festivities for Día de los Muertos include parading, eating, dancing, and creating altars for the deceased with various offerings. In honor of these festivities, there were several performances interspersed throughout the evening at the Bowl. People in the plaza partied with giant skeleton puppets that danced around throughout the crowds. In front of the stage, people danced with the Chinelo Dancers throughout the night. In between acts, the Danza Azteca group presented a traditional dance with intricate drumming patterns and full performance garb. The Glen was filled with community artwork and a communal altar, with sugar skulls, candles, and offerings.

Another integral part of celebration is music, and the Bowl had a fantastic array of musical celebration. Before entering the gates to the Bowl, guests were greeted with mariachi performers and Chinelo Dancers. Inside the gates, the festivities continued to grow with riveting performances on stage by Kinky, Bomba Estéreo, La Santa Cecilia, and Chicano Batman.

Kinky, the internationally recognized, avant-garde electro-gone-acoustic group gave a dynamic and haunting performance, offering a wide range of musical expression. With their hard rock tendencies, electronic versatility, and Mexican background, the stage was pulsating with driving rhythms and an intense and unfaltering energy.

Complementing their modern edge was Chicano Batman which opened the stage show with its classic rock sound. This was the band’s second performance at the Bowl this season having previously opened for Alabama Shakes. They did not let expectations down on their second run, with their groovy rhythms and retro vibe. Chicano Batman self-consciously looks backwards, combining bossa nova, tropicalia, cumbia, and other retrospective influences of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. It was an almost supernaturally appropriate way to celebrate Día de los Muertos, by enjoying music that celebrates music of the past.

Following Chicano Batman was the Los Angeles based Mexican-American group, La Santa Cecilia, led by female vocalist Marisol Hernandez and her full-bodied voice. Performing in her last term of pregnancy, she had an impressively powerful, yet warm and gracious stage presence. Named after the saint of music, La Santa Cecilia’s musical style is a blend of various cultural styles such as bossa nova, cumbia, rock, blues, rancheras, and more. They are deservingly developing a cult following of fans that follow them from city to city. Their lively performance and rich musicality is a captivating medium for the socio-cultural issues that they address in their songs.

Closing out the night was Bomba Estéreo, an all out party band. Even after a full evening of partying, Bomba Estéreo still had the entire crowd on their feet dancing. With their cumbia rhythms in overdrive, this electrifying groove music is impossible to sit through. They left the crowd in high spirits.

There was never a dull moment at this festival. For the Santa Barbara Bowl, it was a wonderful way to end a great season – a celebration of past and present, life and death, an appreciation of what has passed through celebration of what is and what will be. It is a perfect time and place to celebrate both the local cultural heritage of Santa Barbara and to say farewell to the 2015 season. We hope that the Bowl will continue this annual festival as it starts to become a new Santa Barbara tradition.