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A Living Tradition!

(Photos/Felipe Arredondo and Carmen Mayta/ El Comercio de Colorado)

GRAND PARADE AND FESTIVAL OF VIVA COLORADO

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

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Norberto Mojardín, a renowned Mexican-american artist and community leader, along with “Viva Colorado,” a non-profit organization, produced the Grand Parade and Dia de Muertos Festival. These have been the best-produced and most attended events to keep this tradition alive in the last two decades in the metropolitan area.

According to the Denver Police, in charge of security at the Grand Festival in Civic Center Park, attendance exceeded 25,000. It was about eight hours of family entertainment that attracted residents from the metropolitan area and foreign visitors in Denver. “This event is wonderful,” said Haruto, a Japanese attendee at a convention who arrived at Civic Center.

Haruto was very accurate in understanding that such a high-quality event means a tourist attraction for Denver. The main attraction of the festival was the gigantic altar in the Greek amphitheater. Mojardín explained that this altar was dedicated to those who lost their lives during the pandemic and to migrants who lost their lives on their journey to fulfill their dreams.

Grand Parade

The festival was preceded by the Grand Parade that took place on Santa Fe Drive on the night of November 3rd. The parade was very colorful and featured the participation of dance groups such as ArtístiCO, Basaseachi Ballet Folklórico, México en la Piel, Danza Guadalupana Santa Cruz, and Ballet Folklórico Alma Mexicana.

Creative floats could be seen in the parade, with Mexican alebrijes standing out. A Tehuana and a figure in “jarocho” attire, each six meters tall, paraded. Other giant-sized “catrinas” also made their way. The audience along Santa Fe Drive was surprised and applauded all these creations by Mojardín.