Festival this Saturday to benefit immigrant kids
By hola | Published | No Comments
This 2nd Annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) benefit features local artists, musicians and dancers, while raising funds to reunite immigrant families.
Last fall, two local companies came together to host a fall festival that raised funds for natural disaster victims. This year Lalalu Mexican Art and Events by David Rosa are teaming up again for the 2nd Annual Día de los Muertos Benefit Festival. This time, all proceeds will go to CARECEN DC and be used to help reunite immigrant children separated from their families.
From 3 p.m. to midnight this Saturday, Nov. 10, the festival will unfold in a fitting venue, the Congressional Cemetery, a historic burial ground in Southeast D.C. Besides las Catrinas and an altar honoring the Dearly Departed, the day will feature local artists and musicians including Velu Musical, a project of Velu Ochoa, the lead singer of the popular Colombian-D.C. band, De Sanguashinton. Other performers include bands Son la Lucha and La Marvela; the all-female drumming group, Batala; dancer Sarah Herrera; and many others. Local artists are also on the bill, not to mention yoga and hula-hoop classes, candy skull-making, plus arts and crafts vendors.
Hola Cultura interviewed Ariadna Mondragon, CEO and Founder Lalalu Mexican Art.
Tell us how you started organizing charity events like this one and how you came up with this year’s cause?
Honestly, it was never a part of the original plan for this festival to be a charity event. Our two companies had been looking forward to planning a Día De Los Muertos event for a while. But right around the time that we began planning (the first festival last fall), the natural disasters came about (a series of hurricanes and earthquakes that swept through several Latin American countries), which became somewhat like a call to action. We felt compelled to make whatever possible change we could. In fact, most of the event cause come out of our pockets.
What are the highlights of this year’s festival?
We were able to bring together a pretty awesome group of artists, musicians, dancers, creatives and more! We have over 15 different performances and activities. From face painting, to a hoop class, yoga session, community meditation, live art, altar making workshops, and a procession marching to the drums of (the local, all-female band) Batala, ending with a fire performance.
Lots of local performers are on Saturday’s festival lineup.
Tell us about the impact you had last year with the first Day of the Dead Benefit Festival.
We were fortunate enough to raise $2,300 for last year’s function. Since then, we have been working alongside a national Mexican organization, “Mujeres en Movimiento” (Women in Motion), to establish a dedicated program to assist in rebuilding communities. Choosing the appropriate organization has proved difficult, because we wanted to ensure that we found an organization that was both trustworthy and actually benefiting the causes that they represent. Over the last year, we have found that a number of organizations have had an history of misappropriating donations.
This is the reason that we have chosen a local organization this year, so we can all have easier access to see how our efforts as a community are making a difference, fostering community engagement that brings the community closer. Together we are stronger!
How will the funds raised on Nov. 10 be spent this year to benefit the immigrant children?
This year, we have decided to donate to CARECEN DC. This local organization was founded in 1981 as the Central American Refugee Center (now Central American Resource Center) and annually serves over 2,500 families through direct legal, housing, and citizenship services, and reaches thousands more through outreach and education.
CARECEN’s legal department helps community members navigate the confusing and intimidating immigration process. The program seeks to facilitate Latino immigrants’ transition to the United States, reunite families, secure work authorization and economic security, and seek legal relief and justice for victims of crimes and abuse.
Tickets are on sale here.
-Isabelle Orozco
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