Provincetown’s 3rd Annual Day of the Dead Festival is a community event honoring life and death through art. The Festival offers an opportunity to come together to celebrate the lives and honor the deaths of those we love.
Inspired by the Mexican traditions of El Día de los Muertos, the two-week Festival includes a story slam, art workshops, death education, a procession, an ofrenda exhibition, performing arts, and a dance party!
The Festival begins October 20 with a death-themed story slam produced by The Mosquito. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the AIDS Support Group Cape Cod. The Festival culminates on November 2 (the official “Day of the Dead”) with a featured performance by Pooja Prema of Rogue Angel Theatre. Complete schedule of Festival events are listed on the Calendar.
The intention of the Festival is to recognize and honor the Mexican and Mesoamerican roots of El Día de los Muertos while simultaneously creating a community event that is unique to the lived lives of Provincetown residents and other Festival participants.
It is especially important to honor the Mexican roots of the Festival in light of the current national climate of xenophobia and anti-immigration rhetoric, and of national policies denying support for the Dreamers while simultaneously supporting the separation of families at the border. Honoring the Festival’s Mexican roots is an opportunity to speak back to divisive rhetoric and policy and celebrate the enriching contributions of Mexicans and Mexican culture.
There are nearly 12 million immigrants from Mexico currently living in the United States, making up nearly 30% of all U.S. immigrants, and we are thankful for the vast contributions made to our country by Mexican immigrants.
In support of our Mexican immigrant brothers and sisters, Festival partners include Indivisible Outer Cape, Cape Cod Coalition for Safe Communities, Family Diversity Projects, and MIRA (Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition). Please support the work of these organizations dedicated to securing the rights of Mexican and other U.S. immigrants.
And join us for a benefit film screening of Coco – a fundraiser for The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, a non-profit organization providing free legal and social services to detained adults and unaccompanied children facing immigration removal proceedings in Arizona – on any given day, 5,000 immigrant men, women and unaccompanied minors are detained in Arizona.
The Provincetown Day of the Dead Festival is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit community event committed to making the Festival accessible to all regardless of economic circumstances.
We extend a huge heartfelt thank you to The Provincetown Theater, the Town of Provincetown (Economic Development Committee and the Visitor Services Board), and to all our generous Festival sponsors!
Festival Contact
Dawn Walsh, Founding Director
provincetowndayofthedead@gmail.com
Provincetown's 3rd Annual Day of the Dead Festival 2018 