LITTLE VILLAGE — Little Village Arts Fest is back this weekend, filling the neighborhood with art installations, performances and El Día de los Muertos activities.
The festival is scheduled for 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at locations spread between 26th Street to Karlov Avenue and Cermak Road to Sacramento Avenue.
The Recorrido de Ofrendas, the Day of the Dead altar walk, is also returning this weekend at the same time as the arts festival. Local businesses will have ofrendas in their stores. Visitors can also add handwritten notes to a community altar made in honor of loved ones in Little Village.
An online map of all 14 participating businesses is here.
Both events are organized by VILLARTE Chicago, a collective of artists and organizers from Little Village who wanted to dedicate the festivals to lost loved ones and the many businesses and restaurants that closed this year, organizers said in a statement.
Participants can watch a live mural painting outside El Nopal Bakery, 3648 W. 26th St. Artist Claudia Rangel, known as Claü, will paint a mural dedicated to people who died this year. She will also take requests from attendees to paint names of their loved ones on the mural.
An arts workshop where participants will learn how to decorate their own Day of the Dead skull masks is 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the OPEN Center for the Arts, 2214 S. Sacramento Ave.
Several live performances will also take place Saturday. Ballet Folklórico Xochitl, 3306 W. 26th St., will have a dancer performance and will acccept donations to support the studio from noon-4 p.m.
Storytellers from WorkersTEATRO, a local collective of low-wage workers using theater to fight for workers rights, will perform original stories from their newly published magazine, Voices of Experience: Stories to Empower, Inspire and Transform. The storytelling is 4-5 p.m. Saturday at the Yollocalli Arts Reach community garden at 28th Street and Ridgeway Avenue.
Several businesses will offer discounts to attendees of the altar walk. Among them: El Nopal Bakery is giving away a mini conchita with any purchase and Librería Girón, 3547 W. 26th St., is offering 15 percent off regular price for books.
The Arts Festival and Altar Walk was made possible by Living la Villita, a project funded by the Artist Response Program From the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
Participants should practice social distancing rules throughout the event. Masks are required inside all of the businesses.
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