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Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center Oct. 29 fundraising event will celebrate Day of the Dead 

Guests are invited to dance, dine, dress in Day of the Dead costume, honor Laguna’s departed artists and their own loved ones to fund the Center’s creativity-driven mission 

The Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center will hold its annual fall fundraising event on the beautiful Moss Point Estates tennis court on Saturday, Oct. 29 from 6 to 9 pm. Its theme is Day of the Dead. Guests are invited to stroll among altar displays dedicated to departed Laguna Beach artists who contributed to its creative spirit. Painter and arts advocate Anna Hills, Laguna Greenbelt originator Jim Dilley, ballet dancer and choreographer Barbara Stuart, poet John Gardiner, and photographers and BC Space founders Mark Chamberlain and Jerry Burchfield will be among those memorialized. Guests are encouraged to honor their own departed loved ones by bringing photos, mementoes, favorite foods, and beverages to place on altars.

Attire for the event is Day of the Dead-inspired costumes and traditional catrina/catrin make-up, used throughout Mexico during Dia de los Muertos celebrations. A costume parade and contest will be held. The band Mesomash, led by popular musical polymath Arte Hernandez, is guaranteed to have the crowd dancing. Tickets are $150 each. A table for 10 is $1,300. All proceeds go to supporting the Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to harnessing the power of the arts for the benefit of the community. 

“I love el Día de los Muertos, known also as Day of the Dead, or” said Rick Conkey, founder and director of the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center. “It’s a holiday that recognizes death as a natural part of the cycle of life. It helps the living celebrate the loved ones who have died, in a loving, festive way. The Center’s October 29 event will be immersive, entertaining, and meaningful for Laguna Beach because we’ll remember those who contributed to its artful vibe. The Center has just one fundraising event each year. We hope to have a strong show of support from our community of collectors, creatives, and art lovers who want to support the Center’s ever-growing array of offerings for a diverse audience.”

Limited neighborhood parking is free but guests are encouraged to carpool, walk, or use the trolley, Uber, Lyft, or the free Laguna Local ride service. 

In addition, on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 pm and 5 pm, the Center will screen “Coco,” Pixar’s 2017 award-winning animated film. In the all-ages film, aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer. 

Click Here To Watch Coco Trailer

Note: The 2 pm screening is free and will be especially for families with young children. The 5 pm show is $10 per ticket. 

About el Día de los Muertos

According to history.com the Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink, and celebration. Day of the Dead is not, as is commonly thought, a Mexican version of Halloween, thought the two holidays do share some traditions, including costumes and parades. On the Day of the Dead, it’s believed that the border between the spirit world and the real world dissolve. During this brief period, the souls of the dead awaken and return to the living world to feast, drink, dance, and play music with their loved ones. In turn, the living family members treat the deceased as honored guests in their celebrations and leave the deceased’s favorite foods and other offerings, ofrendas, at gravesites or on altars built in their homes. 

Origins of Day of the Dead

The roots of the Day of the Dead, celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage in the United States and around the world, go back some 3,000 years to rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life. 

About the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center 

The Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center's mission is to harness the power of the arts for the benefit of the community. The Center is in the former BC Space, a collaborative arts hub started by photographers and educators Jerry Burchfield and Mark Chamberlain. During its existence from 1973 to 1987 – one of the longest-running galleries in the U.S. –– BC Space presented many provocative exhibitions. Recently remodeled and renamed the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center, it is just off Coast Highway at 235 Forest Avenue, upstairs above the Promenade in Laguna Beach, the heart of Southern California's art colony. lbculturalartscenter.org

Grant funding made possible by the lodging establishments and City of Laguna Beach.