Dia de los Muertos Festival Returns to Concordia Cemetery

Concordia Cemetery will host a cavalcade of catrinas, catrins, calaveras and 10-foot Mojigangas in celebration of Dia de los Muertos this year.

After the event was scrapped in 2020 due to the global pandemic, the Concordia Cemetery Dia De Los Muertos Festival returns to being an in-person event in November.

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What’s more, the day-long celebration of our dearly departed will be back to “pre-Covid normal,” according to the Concordia Heritage Association, organizers of the annual gathering.

What to Know about 2021 Concordia Cemetery Dia De Los Muertos Festival

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, honors loved ones we have lost and is typically celebrated on November 1 and 2.

But because this year those dates fall on a Monday and Tuesday, the DDLM Festival will be held the following Saturday, November 6, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The cool thing about this particular celebration is that it’s the only one in El Paso held in a cemetery, which is the traditional setting for Dia de los Muertos observances in Mexico.

All the familiar activities and festivities you know and love are returning: the larger-than-life dancing puppets (Mojigangas), the dusk fire dance, and performances from El Paso’s own Wild West reenactors Six Guns and Shady Ladies.

Also returning are various arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, and face painters. Raffle tickets to a private lock-in paranormal after-hours investigation of the historic Central El Paso graveyard will be sold that day, too.

Admission to the Concordia Cemetery Dia De Los Muertos Festival is $5. Proceeds benefit Concordia Heritage Association which maintains, preserves and protects Concordia Cemetery.