Standing next to a pile of uncut marigolds and a few boxes filled with decorations, Alondra Paredes and her family put the finishing touches on an intricately designed ofrenda. Paredes and her relatives had been preparing the altar’s layout since June, setting aside time on the weekends to perfect every last detail.
The final product was a multilayered table filled with photos of late loved ones and trinkets bought in Mexico over the years in front of a papel picado-inspired backdrop that stood more than six feet tall. To the side of the display was a large marigold-filled archway with the phrase “Amor Eterno” across the top.
The altar was displayed at White Park November 1 and 2 as part of the city’s Day of the Dead festival, a tradition that the family has participated in for the last eight years.
Previously, the family did not partake in the cultural display. However, months after Paredes’ brother, Jose Manuel Lopez Castellano, died in 2017, she found a social media post promoting the local event and felt it could be a way to help the family heal.
“I feel like now I can talk about it now, I don’t get the choking in my throat when I talk about my brother,” Paredes said. “We always have him in our heart, but there’s days that pass, and I don’t think about him, so this is especially just one day that’s entirely dedicated to him.”
Paredes was just one of the tens of thousands of Inland Empire residents who gathered in downtown Riverside for the 23rd annual Riverside Day of the Dead festival this past weekend. The two-day event was organized by Division 9 Gallery, a community arts space in the city that organizes Latino-focused cultural events throughout the year owned by Cosmé Cordova.
“Day of the Dead encompasses a whole circle of things that you normally don’t see throughout the year, and the people that come out, they get to enjoy all these things,” Cordova said. “It’s just amazing to see the expressions of people’s faces, or the excitement or the energy that they bring to the event.”
The event, which spanned seven blocks of Market Street, had two stages at opposite ends for live entertainment with dozens of local vendors in between. The event also featured a range of cultural showcases, including folklorico dances, a graffiti battle, a lowrider exhibition and a park brimming with community-built altars.
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Marisa Roberts, founder of Rialto-based folklorico dance group Mi Lindo Mexico, was one of the featured performance groups early on Saturday. She said that the group typically performs in other parts of Southern California, so she was happy to have the opportunity to dance in their own region.
“It feels comforting to be reminded that you’re not alone, and to be able to walk down the street and see so many people who know what folklorico is [and] who know the meaning behind Diá de los Muertos,” Roberts said. “We’re not just celebrating it to have another party. It actually means something very deep to a lot of these families.”
Cordova said he decided to hold the first event because he felt there was a lack of representation of the Latino and Mexican holiday within the Inland Empire. About 200 people showed up that first year, he said, with many attendees thanking him for hosting the celebration as they couldn’t return to Mexico for the holiday.
Over the next two decades, the event continued to grow, giving Cordova the opportunity to educate people about the importance of the cultural holiday honoring the dead.
“I had this vision that this was going to be the next American holiday, and it’s getting there,” Cordova said. “What other event allows you to think of somebody who’s passed on and be able to talk to strangers or family, to pass on that knowledge?”
Riverside County, according to the Pew Research Center, is home to the sixth largest Latino population in the U.S. and is in the top 10 list for counties with the largest Latino population increase between 2010 and 2020. People of Mexican descent also comprise 86% of the Inland Empire’s total Latino population, according to the center.
At a time of increasing federal immigration enforcement operations across Southern California, Cordova said he felt it was pivotal to continue to host the cultural festival.
“My purpose is just to continue doing these events, to bring people together so they have the time not to think about those things that are surrounding us,” he said.
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