The Latino Equality Alliance’s Calavera LGBTQ+ Festival returns to L.A.

Honoring Latino heritage, embracing queer identities and providing community resources are what the Latino Equality Alliance (LEA) looks to bring to this year's Calavera LGBTQ+ Festival, taking place in Boyle Heights. 

The festival, which is centered around an intergenerational Día de los Muertos celebration, returns after a year’s pause and will be held on October 18, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Mi Centro and Hubble Studios.

 Eddie Martinez, executive director of LEA, said the event is one of celebration but also one to commemorate family members and their memories. 

“Our LGBTQ Calavera Festival is about bringing people together to celebrate youth and enjoy the rich heritage of our ancestors,” Martinez said. “Cultural pride and family are so important for our Latinx LGBTQ community.”

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Latino holiday with Mexican roots celebrated on November 1 and 2 honoring and commemorating family and friends who have died. The holiday welcomes their spirits back to the living world for a temporary reunion through ofrendas or altars that are made up of photos, personal items and the deceased's favorite foods and snacks. LEA’s festival looks to traditionally honor the cyclical nature of life and death, but rather than a mournful event, it will provide space for communal unity and care. 

LEA was founded in January 2009 as a response to California’s Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. Today, after 16 years, LEA continues advocating for safety, equity and wellness in the Latino LGBTQ+ community. 

There are approximately 665,000 LGBTQ adults living in Los Angeles County, making up nearly 9% of the county's adult population, according to a2024 study by the University of California, Los Angeles. 

As stated by LEA, more than just a festival, the event will be a safe place where attendees will be able to honor ancestors, uplift their own stories and build solidarity among one another. 

The festival will also host one of their most anticipated events: the iconic Mx. Calavera drag contest, a drag pageant and show that in the past has awarded winners with cash prizes. There will also be community altars, vendors and Folklórico and Aztec dancers at the event.. 

For the organization, this annual event is incredibly important, as all the proceeds from sales at the event will be used to support LEA’s advocacy work with LGBTQ youth and families that stems from youth empowerment, family acceptance, educational equity, public health and civic engagement. 

The event will also feature live performances, DJ sets and a variety of nonprofit organizations providing community resources to all who attend. This year, the event will be hosted by Kay Sedia, a Latina drag artist for nearly 30 years. Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Kay Sedia has become a beloved performer and defender of LGBTQ issues and rights. 

Sponsors supporting this year’s festival include Keck Medicine of USC, Bank of America, L.A. councilmember Ysabel Jurado, Los Angeles County supervisor Janice Hahn, Reach LA, Mi Centro Community Center, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Department of Cultural Affairs of Los Angeles.

Tickets and admission to the festival are free with registration. 

For more information about the festival and to register, visit www.somoslea.org.