Waterloo Greenway and Frida Friday ATX Launch Vendor Market with Live Music, Dance Performances, and More!
Waterloo Greenway with community partner and co-producer Frida Friday ATX today announced that Waterloo Park will host a free public Día De Los Muertos celebration with an outdoor marketplace. The restored 11-acre park will feature live music and dance, with an intersectional BIPOC, Queer, Latinx, and locally-centered mercado y más with 35+ booths from local artisanal craft vendors, curated by Frida Friday ATX.
Waterloo Greenway will host Día De Los Muertos at Waterloo Park from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Sunday, October 31, 2021. Día De Los Muertos will offer Austinites an opportunity to commemorate the lives of departed friends and family members, while building cultural, musical, and social bridges through collective art making and live performances including:
- 2:00 PM – DJ Chorizo Funk
- 3:00 PM – Mariachi Las Coronelas
- 4:00 PM – La Murga de Austin
- 5:00 PM – Ballet Folklorico de Austin
- 6:00 PM – Tiarra Girls
- 7:00 PM – Los TexManiacs
- Featuring DJ Zetroc
Día De Los Muertos will open with a traditional dance originating from San Luis de La Paz, Guanajuanto, led by Danza Azteca Guadalupana de Austin, to welcome park guests and invite departed loved ones to join in the day’s celebrations.
In addition to exciting live performances, family-friendly activities will take over the Meredith Heritage Tree Deck, featuring hands-on sugar skull decorating with the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, and children’s storytime with Austin-based taco journalist Mando Rayo reading “Vitamina T for Tacos” with United Tacos of America. Community partners onsite will also include Contigo Wellness, providing holistic access to mental health services in the Latinx community.
The event will highlight Austin’s own art community with skull installations by Ernest Ramirez and live artists at the Love, Tito’s Lawn, including Carmen Rangel, Sadé Lawson, Swathi Konduri, and Richard Samuel. Attendees can also learn how to make their own flower crowns with Las Ofrendas, offering a one-of-a-kind onsite workshop.
Local artist and florist, Yliana Lara of Florecita, will transform the Lebermann Plaza into a large community ofrenda, or altar, where visitors are invited to place images and decorations to honor their families and friends who have passed. Guests will be joined by Irasema Reza Bailey, opening the Día de los Muertos community altar with a traditional smudging, accompanied by a primera palabra by Kalpulli Ameyaltonal ATX.
Día de los Muertos at Waterloo Park is made possible by Waterloo Greenway’s Opening Season Partners and presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka and PNC Bank, with support by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.
Attendees are encouraged to RSVP on Facebook. Interested vendors are invited to apply to be considered for Frida Friday ATX market opportunities.
Waterloo Park visitors are encouraged to follow all local, state and CDC COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. Social distancing will be observed and facemasks are encouraged at all Waterloo Greenway events.
For more information on upcoming events, please visit waterloogreenway.org and follow Waterloo Greenway on Facebook @WaterlooGreenway, Instagram @WaterlooGreenway and Twitter @WaterlooGW.
ABOUT WATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY
Waterloo Greenway Conservancy is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create and maintain an extraordinary urban park system and a restored Waller Creek, in partnership with the City of Austin, for the benefit of all. The Conservancy renews the natural environment, promotes play, health and wellness, economic vitality and mobility, and engages the community through outreach, education, cultural events, and the arts.
ABOUT FRIDA FRIDAY ATX
Frida Friday ATX (FFATX) is a project of Las Ofrendas. FFATX is Austin’s first and only monthly intentionally intersectional BIPOC, Queer, Latinx, and local creatives centered mercado y más. Supporting and amplifying local creatives, and creating truly diverse cultural spaces in Tejaslandía! More than a market, we’re an economic empowerment movement.
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.