Carnaval de los Muertos

Every November 1 and 2, URBAN-15’s Carnaval de San Anto transforms into Carnaval de los Muertos for a very special performance in honor of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. This annual performance ritual combines traditional Mexican culture and URBAN-15’s Brazilian and Portuguese dance and rhythms, resulting in a presentation that pays tribute to and celebrates our passed loved ones.

Carnaval de los Muertos has been an annual URBAN-15 tradition since the early 1990s, when the ensemble would make visits to the Alamo Camposanto, San Fernando Cathedral, Main Plaza and San Fernando Cemeteries. In recent years, URBAN-15 has performed in Hemisfair’s Plaza México, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the Instituto Cultural de México, and appeared for presentations at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Market Square, and Centro Cultural Aztlan.

With special costumes, choreography, and rhythms all designed and created by the URBAN-15 members themselves, Carnaval de los Muertos is an organic altar that celebrates the many families and generations that have lived here in San Antonio. By honoring the past, we learn how to proceed into the future.

This year, the Carnaval de Muertos makes three appearances on Friday, November 2:

• 7 p.m. at Hemisfair, beginning at the Institute of Texan Cultures (801 E. Cesar Chavez, 78205) and proceeding to the Instituto Cultural Mexicano (600 Hemisfair Way, 78205)
• 8:30 p.m. at Centro Cultural Aztlan (1800 Fredericksburg Rd #103, 78201)
• 10 p.m. at Lone Star Art Space (107 Lone Star Blvd, 78204)