Events & Festivities Around the Valley
Take a drive to the tiny town of Tieton where a vibrant cultural tradition comes to life with a rich display of color, music, food and dance. Experience the traditions and significance of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, and explore the quaint community of artists and makers. Find even more ways to experience cultural celebrations around the valley with a new festival of remembrance, art exhibits, historic trolley rides and more.
Celebrate Life & Loved Ones
Unlike Halloween’s dark and spooky night of frights and mischief, Día de los Muertos celebrates the beauty of life in an explosion of color, love and remembrance. It originated thousands of years ago in Central America and has roots in both indigenous and Catholic traditions. At the center of the celebration is the importance of honoring and remembering the lives of loved ones who have passed, as opposed to mourning. Altars of remembrance, or ofrendas, are central to the celebration, lovingly created to honor loved ones and welcome their spirits back from eternal sleep to feast, drink and dance to music for just one night.
The three-tier altars are filled with offerings that reflect the life of the loved one, as well as traditional components representing the elements of water, fire (candles), wind (colorful paper banners) and earth (food, especially bread). You’ll also bright marigolds, beautifully made of paper, and colorfully decorated calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls). Sugar skulls are a common festive part of the celebration.
Vibrant Cultural Traditions
Today, Día de los Muertos has become a global event with its festivities, costumes, music, food and dance. Here in the Valley, you can experience the rich traditions at the annual Día de los Muertos Community Celebration & Altar in Tieton. Each year, Tieton Arts & Humanities and Mighty Tieton host the celebration and create a large community altar they welcome everyone to contribute to.
It all begins with an opening celebration on Sunday, October 25, from 12 to 5 pm. Take the short drive to Tieton for live performances, artists, a stunning cultural gallery exhibit, music and dance performances. Enjoy arts and crafts activities, sugar skull decorating and a mercado featuring an array of goods from artisans and delicious foods. The heart of the display is the large memorial altar filled with all the traditional elements and community contributions. Visitors can bring photos of loved ones, write messages, help decorate and bring candies or breads to make the altar a community celebration. The display also features exhibits about the sacred traditions, individual contemporary and traditional altars, sugar skull displays and a vibrant, traditional sandpainting by acclaimed Oaxacan artist Fulgencio. (See more Oaxacan art at the Larson gallery exhibit below.)
This year, the Lowrider Car Show also returns to the celebration on October 25! The lowrider show “showcases another art form within the community and give our visitors another exciting experience that highlights the Latine community and celebrate the culture,” according to Tieton Arts & Humanities.
You can visit the gallery exhibit and altar on Fridays and Saturdays, from 12 to 5 pm, through November 15, or by appointment.
Explore the Town of Tieton
Tieton packs a lot into a few square blocks. While you’re there for Día de los Muertos, be sure to check out the final days of Boxx Gallery’s Creative Inheritance exhibit, a reflection on wilderness spaces,running through Ocboter 31. Another exceptional exhibit, the Emerging Artists Show, follows at this beautifully curated gallery, beginning November 7.
Save time to savor cultural flavors at local dining stops around town. Fernando’s is a local’s favorite stop for traditional Mexican dishes (especially breakfast!) and Don Mateo is known for delicious Salvadoran specialties including handmade papusas. Save your spot for seasonally inspired lunch or dinner at Nomad Kitchen & Mercantile. Check out their mercantile stocked with goods for outdoor adventurers and food lovers. Tour the vibrant tile mosaic installations all around town from Tieton Mosaic, perfect for photo ops! Gather over handcrafted coffee drinks and light bites or dinner at Nikki’s Cafe, then shop her curated selection of gifts and artisanal food products.Raise a pint at one of the Valley’s exceptional craft breweries, Shorthead Brewing, 2027 Fresh Hop Ale Festival finalist and 2024 Best New Brewery of the Year (VinePair). That’s not all! Take a look at more of the makers, quaint lodging and top stops in Tieton.
Festivities of Light, Color, Art & Remembrance
This year marks the return of another new event in Downtown Yakima. The Laka Laka Glowing Festival celebrates Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased)* on Sunday, November 1, 4 to 9 pm, at the Downtown Rotary Marketplace. This new festival embraces tradition in a magical way with light, color, candles, food, vendors, music and more. Enjoy traditional foods, a lively beer garden and get in character as a Catrina or Catrín, or have your face painted as a Catrina or Catrín. Bring a photo of your loved one and commemorate the day in the photo booth. While this is a festive gathering, it also serves as an educational experience centered around the rich traditions of Día de los Difuntos, fostering youth empowerment and cultural understanding.
The treasured, historic Yakima Valley Trolleys is once again hosting very special Día de los Muertos Remembrance Rides on Saturday, November 1, with departures every half hour from noon to 3 pm. Take a ride on the trolley, festively decorated with the vibrant spirit of the tradition, as riders take their turn ringing the trolley bell in honor and remembrance of loved ones. Leave time to visit the ofrenda, or altar, in the museum and contribute a photo in remembrance of someone special if you wish. Enjoy pan dulce, leche de chocolate, or Chocolate Abuelita, and kids activities, including traditional face painting.
The Larson Gallery brings back a very special installation, La Plaza: a community Celebration through Dia de los Muertos, by the Mezcla Collective, a Yakima-based art collective that supports the work of Latine artists. They bring their vision back to the original Larson Gallery space on the Yakima Valley College campus for this year’s installation commemorating the Day of the Dead. The collective’s mission is to support, advocate for, and provide a collaborative space for BIPOC+ artists in Central Washington. Join them for an opening reception on October 31, from 3 to 5 pm. You can view the exhibit until December 4.
After you view the Mezcla Collective exhibit, venture across the street to the Larson Gallery’s new, primary gallery space where they’ll host another exhibit celebrating Oaxacan art and culture. With an opening reception on October 31, from 3 to 5 pm, From Mexico to Yakima: Contemporary Oaxacan Prints showcases a curated collection of prints created by contemporary Oaxacan printmakers using a variety of printmaking processes. Oaxaca has become a center for contemporary printmaking, with print studios run by individual artists or collectives producing strong, vibrant work that has caught the attention of art enthusiasts worldwide. The exhibit runs through December 4 with a Curator’s Talk November 12, at 6 pm.
*In Spain, Ecuador and other regions of the world, Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased) is traditionally a more intimate commemoration than that associated with Día de los Muertos festivities.
Check out all the other things to do in the Yakima Valley when you visit.
Categorized in: Family Fun, History and Culture