Día del Niño (Live-Stream)

El Día del Niño is celebrated every April 30th in Mexico. During WWI many children were left vulnerable around the world. This celebration was created after the Declaration of Rights of the Child which was adopted on the 26th of November, 1925, by the League of Nations after recognizing that all children are left vulnerable after a war.

The Latino Center of Art and Culture is celebrating our 7th annual Día del Niño on Sunday, April 25, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This year we are featuring Mexico City’s puppet troop las Marionetas de la Esquina and their amazing show el Circo! It will be performed 4 times throughout the day, twice in English and twice in Spanish.

We will also present an Aztec dance by Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli Danza Azteka, an art demonstration by Lila Solorzano Rivera, and a show by Dilly Dally the clown.
This year’s event will be held virtually, live-streamed on Facebook.
facebook.com/LatinoCenterofArtCulture

SCHEDULE (UPDATED)
10am: Welcome introduction with Teresa Lerma-Garcia
10:30am: El Circo (English)
11:15am: Kalpulli Itzkuauhtli Danza Azteka
11:30am: El Circo (Spanish)
12:15pm: Intermission with LCAC updates and tour of the center
12:30: Art demo by Lila Solorzano Rivera
1pm: El Circo (English)
1:45pm: Dilly Dally the Clown

¡Mercado de Frida!

The Latino Center of Art & Culture is pleased to announce The 7th Annual ¡Mercado de Frida! on Sunday, June 27, 2021. (Limited free parking on site)

This popular free event is a day to honor the legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and celebrate not only her work but also her iconic status for female empowerment. As the pandemic condition has begun to improve in Sacramento, the LCAC would like to provide a mercado for to 30 local artisan and food vendors. Setting the ambiance there will be authentic Mexican food, drink, with live music. Jarritos served in a clay pot glass, and beer and wine will be available to those over 21 with ID.

The hugely popular centerpiece activity of the evening is the Parade de Frida, showing off all the look-a-likes who come dressed as the famous artist, with emcee LCAC Board Member Beatriz Navarro.

Featured in this daytime event will be a solo performance by Ashwut Rodriguez, a Sacramento area-based guitarist with over 30 years of experience writing, recording and performing music. And DJ Fuego, Hear Him live for the Fuego night mix from -8pm and on Air From 7-10 pm, Monday - Friday. (https://djhektors.com/)

And please check out the gallery space to see our exhibition of handmade Mexican masks from different regions of Mexico. The gallery was curated by our very own local artist Raul Mejia.

EVENT SCHEDULE

12:00-12:15 pm Welcome and Frida Mercado Open
12:15-2:15 pm Aswut Rodriguez
3:00-4:00 pm Frida Parade
5:00-7:00 pm Pachanga

The Latino Center of Art and Culture is excited to announce our new live music series, Concerts in the Comedor! Opening Friday, September 10th, with the Harley White Jr. Trio for a smooth night of Latin Jazz and Jazz Standards. This free monthly outdoor concert series will bring the best local musical talent together with cold drinks and hot food for lively evenings in our Comedor de Amor.

The Latino Center is conveniently located just before Miller Park on the Sacramento River, with plenty of free parking on site. Stay tuned for all the upcoming music at the Latino Center for Art and Culture.

Suggested donation $10.

The Latino Center of Art and Culture is excited to announce our monthly Maker's Mercados, a marketplace featuring arts and crafts by local artists, food, drinks and music. The Mercado opens Saturday, Sept. 11th in Old Town Sacramento, and will continue every second Saturday, 9am -3pm. Look for us along the Embarcadero. Come see all that the local artistic community has to offer and enjoy a walk along the waterfront. Leave with gifts for all your friends and family! For more information, you can reach us on social media or email mercado@thelatinocenter.org.

El Panteón de Sacramento 2021

The centuries-old tradition of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) will be celebrated this year on the grounds of the Latino Center of Art and Culture. This annual LCAC event, El Panteón de Sacramento, features the recreation of a candlelit Mexican cemetery and chapel accompanied by live performances from The Lico Music Academy, a 24-piece music group from Los Angeles. With 3 stages, traditional Mexican music and dancing, El Panteón de Sacramento is the area's biggest and most exciting Día de los Muertos celebration! The event is free to the public, though donations are welcome. Food, drinks, local art and crafts will be available for purchase. Masks will be required.

Dozens of traditional memorials will be created by families and friends to honor those who have passed, telling the stories of their departed loved ones. These colorful ofrendas are adorned with sugar skulls, food and drink once enjoyed by the departed, flowers and personal mementos. Bathed in the light of the moon during evening hours and filled with drifting fragrances of copal and cempasuchil, the bright marigolds considered the flowers of the dead, El Panteón is not only a place of remembrance, but a joyous celebration of our loved ones.

The public is invited to join a procession into the site on Saturday, October 30th at 4:30PM.

The traditional music program is created by a team of artists led by Vidal Beltran, featuring:
● The Lico Music Academy, a 24-piece Mexican orchestra
● Live Traditional Musicians
● Ballet Folklorico
● Son Jarocho fandango with Son de Sacramento
● Mojigangas giant puppet performance

El Panteón will have free off-site parking a few blocks away at 2300 Front St. We strongly recommend carpooling or using a rideshare app. The Center is also just a short bike or scooter ride from Midtown Sac. We will have a dropoff area in front for anyone coming via ridesharing app, or anyone else in need. We will also have limited handicapped parking close to the entrance, please bring your placard if you plan to use the handicapped parking.

About Día de los Muertos:
Rooted in 3,000-year-old Aztec and Nahua cultural beliefs in the cyclical nature of life, Día de los Muertos is a contemporary Mexican festival during which the souls of the departed are believed to leave the world of the dead and reunite with their loved ones for a single evening. After building altars to share memories and activities the dead once enjoyed in life, participants come together to celebrate their lives with food, drink, music and dancing. Día de los Muertos recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience and honors the contributions ancestors have made to their families and to the community. Día de los Muertos VIDEO.

Schedule:

Thursday
6:00 – 10:00 pm El Panteón is open with altars, vendors and food trucks

Friday
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Latino Outdoor Poetry Open Mic
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Sacramento Son Jarocho (Fandango de los Muertos)

Saturday
10:00 am – 11:00 am Bendiciones Altares
11:00 am – 11:30am Procession del Silencion
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Rincones De Mi Tierra
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Nuevo Amanecer
2:00pm – 3:00 pm Palomas Y Gavilanez
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Nostaljias De Mexico
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm Procession (from Miller Park to The Latino Center)
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Lacustre Michoacan De Ocampo
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Velación del Panteón, acompañados de Orquesta Lico Music
8:30 pm – 10:00 pm Tamborazo de Lico Music Academy

Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm Orquesta Lico Music
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Resimiento Grupos
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Victoria Dance
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Ballet Del Valle
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Palomas Y gavilanes
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Diablos Y La Custre
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Mariachi Bonitas
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Velada del Panteón (Orquesta Lico Music)

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Homenaje a La Virgen de Tepeyac

2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions

An outdoor installation of the apparition of La Virgen de Guadalupe, featuring a life-size statue brought from Mexico for this occasion.

According to accounts published in both Nahuatl and Spanish in the 1600s, on December 12, 1531, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe appeared to an indigenous peasant, Juan Diego, on a slope in the outskirts of Tepeyac. She requested that a church be built in her honor and sent Juan Diego to carry her message to the Spanish bishops. She appeared to him four times. Each time he sought audience with the bishops but they did not believe him. On his last visit with the bishops in Mexico City, he opened his cape and roses fell to the ground revealing the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe.

It is also told, that at this place, the Indians living in the area of Tepeyac had a temple dedicated to the mother of the gods, whom they called Tonantzin, which means Our Mother. The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is of a woman with brown skin.

La Virgin has since been an important icon in Mexico’s struggle for freedom and as a patriotic symbol. In the United States banners with her image led marches by Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers. On the days leading up to December 12, people begin a pilgrimage to the Basilica de Guadalupe in Tepeyac to pay homage to La Virgen. Many make their way on their knees, carrying candles, images, flags, and illustrations of her likeness to give thanks and honor the Queen of Mexico.

The public is welcome to bring flowers, social distancing and masks required.
Parking available on site.

La Pastorela de Sacramento

This year we had to cancel our live performances of La Pastorela 2021. We rewrote and staged it as a digital production that can be seen on our site as part of our Digital Programs.

A modern bilingual musical based on Mexico’s traditional Christmas pageant. Satirical, poignant, moralistic, sly, and romantic, with contemporary and timeless subject matter. La Pastorela draws directly from current affairs in the best tradition of magical realism, The Latino Center of Art & Culture (LCAC) offers Sacramento a musical perfect for the spirit of the season.