LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A virtual Dia de los Muertos celebration led by Archbishop Jose H. Gomez will be livestreamed from Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles tonight.
The celebration will feature live music and an outdoor prayer vigil at the cemetery's mausoleum. There will be altars honoring the lives of victims of human trafficking, those who have died from mental health conditions, the unborn, lives of those who died from COVID-19 and fallen servicemembers in Afghanistan.
The celebration will begin at 7 p.m. and be streamed on lacatholics.org/ddlm.
The altars in the mausoleum courtyard will remain on display for public viewing from Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The event will be virtual for the second consecutive year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Another virtual Dia de los Muertos celebration will be conducted by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and acknowledge the losses and hardships experienced by Hispanic communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will feature artwork, performances and critical analyses from faculty and students.
The celebration will begin at 11 a.m. Participants can register at ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J53EmpBuTaiqd66eyeUXDw.
The 24th Street Theatre in South Los Angeles will host a Dia de los Muertos celebration beginning at 5:45 p.m. featuring music, dance, food and craft vendors, altar making and COVID-19 vaccinations. Scheduled performers include Mexican composer/musician Jaime Lopez, musician Esteban Leon and the band Klezmer Juice.
The Catalina Museum for Art and History in Avalon will host a Dia de los Muertos Family Festival, beginning at 6 p.m., featuring dancing and music.
Dia de los Muertos, an All Souls Day celebration, is a vibrant faith-based tradition, when the life of the deceased is honored and celebrated through songs, prayer and altars.