Uptown Whittier celebrates 19th annual Día de los Muertos festival

The Día de los Muertos event kick-off of the season in Southern California was held at Uptown Whittier for its 19th annual Los Muertos Uptown Festival with a car show, a vendor market, community altars, performances, a Catrina dress-up contest and more. 

The festival is hosted and organized by Casita del Pueblo, a cultural boutique in Uptown Whittier with an art gallery inside of the store. The festival first started as an in-store event before it grew and took over the streets of Uptown Whittier.

Yolanda Garcia is the owner of Casita del Pueblo and the organizer behind the Los Muertos Uptown Festival. 

“I’m so happy that the community has embraced it the way that it has. It definitely is a testimony to the community showing what they really need and what is desired in this community,” Garcia said. 

“I grew up in this community and I felt my cultural empowerment and awareness was just in the home, not so much in my community. To magnify it and to feel like you’re part of a community is when your city, businesses, local organizations, and everyone comes out to celebrate in honor of who you are as an individual is powerful. I’m just really proud of it,” she continued. 

Garcia is proud that her children can celebrate the holiday alongside her. 

“Myself and other community members created this event in order for our children to have awareness and feel empowered and be visible in the community that they're growing up in. I'm just very honored to be able to be part of that journey,” Garcia said. 

Ruben Gurrola participated in the car show with his German Tribe car club for the fourth year and plans to continue coming back.

“We love the people. The event’s great, the kids love it and love to participate. That brings everyone together,” Gurrola said. 

The cars and the Catrina pageant are his favorite part of the event. His daughter Valentina Gurrola participated in the pageant for the second year consecutively and won third place. Valentina’s favorite part of her dress was being able to twirl. 

The second-place winner of the Catrina contest was Nancy Ruiz. She was inspired by her mother-in-law, who passed away last December, for her Catrina dress.

“This December is going to be one year (without her). I do have her on the back (of my hat). That’s the whole point and it’s dedicated to her,” Ruiz said. 

John Navarro grew up in Whittier and was also a part of the car show with a truck decorated with an altar on the truck bed. 

“It’s a tribute to all of our ancestors that passed away, that’s why we’re here to celebrate their death. It’s something that’s special to us,” Navarro said. 

“I was born and raised in Whittier. Anything for Whittier I’m down to participate in, especially for something like this,” he said. 

The city of Whittier is in the hearts of many people, including Liliana Bello, who has been coming to the Los Muertos Uptown Festival for many years and enjoys dressing up for the occasion.

“I’m always looking forward to the Day of the Dead and every year I always come here. Uptown Whittier is always the place to come. I love the whole environment of family and traditions,” Bello said. “Every year I see people with their kids and carry over the tradition. I think that’s very special.”

Her favorite part of Día de los Muertos is remembering her loved ones and making altars that her grandmother taught her how to make.

“My grandma taught me at an early age in Acapulco, Guerrero. She would have a huge altar against the wall, wide with a lot of candles and marigolds,” Bello said. 

Gabriel Segura and Natalie Servin arrived at the festival dressed up with inspiration by Emiliano Zapata. 

“I'm Hispanic, so I have to represent Hispanics. The culture is always, you know, beautiful and very colorful. And it's a really nice way, in my opinion, to remember those who have passed on,” Segura said. “I'm a huge Emiliano Zapata fan. So revolution, anywhere, everywhere, all the time.”

Indigenous roots and bringing culture back to life through color, expression, music and art inspired how Servin dressed for the festival.

Others were visiting Uptown Whittier and didn’t know about the festival happening. It was brought on as a surprise, including to Antonieta Molina who came to uptown to get coffee with her daughter. 

“It’s beautiful to see that in the United States, there is the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos. The cars were beautiful. These are traditions that bring happiness to someone’s heart. The atmosphere had good vibes and everything looked beautiful, very happy,” Molina said in Spanish. 

Pieces of Bones by Sonya Sandoval-Carreon was part of the vendor market and came out of hiatus to sell hand-crafted jewelry at the festival. She has been creating her jewelry for about 20 years and has evolved over the years. 

Her jewelry is also sold in Casita Del Pueblo’s store after meeting Garcia at Hollywood Forever Cemetery almost two decades ago. 

This was Sandoval-Carreon’s first time having a booth at an event since the COVID-19 pandemic. She also met one of her long-time customers who lives in New York at the festival and was happy to put a face on a customer who purchases her merchandise. 

“It’s very fun. I see returning customers all the time and that’s really what it’s all about. Not only do they come back, but they’re wearing a piece from years ago. It’s really great,” Sandoval-Carreon said. 

Casita del Pueblo will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in Uptown Whittier next month in November. One of its employees, Samantha Martinez, started working at the store during the summer and was first a customer back in 2021. 

Her first time attending the Los Muertos Uptown Festival was back in 2022 and it was also her first time experiencing a celebration for the holiday. 

“When Día de los Muertos comes up, me and my family don't really celebrate it as much as we should. But once I came here, there was so much emotion, happiness, sadness, just a lot of emotion. I would say it's an amazing, beautiful experience,” Martinez said. 

Although the Latino and Hispanic community celebrates the holiday, many others outside of the community joined. 

“There are so many people from different age groups, different cultures, different communities that come out and really just admire the beauty of our culture and the beauty of Día de los Muertos and what it symbolizes, which is really understanding our heritage, honoring our ancestors, honoring the people that have been here before and that really like have made a significant impact in who we are as individuals and what we do today,” Garcia said. 

For more information on Casita del Pueblo and future events, visit online at www.casitadelpueblo.org and in-store at 13100 Philadelphia St, Whittier, CA 90601.