Moravida

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Fairgrounds will host Moses Lake’s second annual Moravida Festival Oct. 27 and 28, a commemoration of life festival related to Day of the Dead for all ages intended to honor late loved ones and ancestors.

The Moravida Pre-Party Kick-Off Dance on Oct. 27 will go from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., and the free Festival on Oct. 28 will go from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The event’s planning committee consists of Fairgrounds Coordinator Rebecca Martinez and six other community members.

“The fairgrounds was looking at ways to provide more events for the community and it's something that we kind of thought of over the years but didn't really have the manpower to move forward with it,” Martinez said. “Once we were able to move forward, we put together a planning committee from community members within Moses Lake and the surrounding area, from the Hispanic and Latino community, to really help us start planning since it is a cultural-based event.”

The kick-off party Oct. 27 will feature live music, dancing and a bar in the commercial building at the fairgrounds, located at 3953 Airway Drive NE in Moses Lake. The party has a $10 cover charge but is free for children ages 10 and under. Admission to the festival Oct. 28 is free.

“We just want to let the community know that it's open to everybody. It is a free family event,” Martinez said. “There'll be lots of things to see and do. We have a lot of food trucks, a lot of local vendors. We will have live entertainment as far as mariachi bands and ballet folklorico groups, and then we definitely would love the community to get involved in taking part in the community altar.”

According to the fairgrounds website, the community altar is a shared space for healing, comfort and reflection and somewhere to place an offering celebrating loved ones who have passed away. To contribute to the altar, Martinez asked that community members register ahead of time.

The event will also feature Trunk or Treat, hosted by the Lakesiders Car Club, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 28, followed by a costume contest. Other activities include games, pumpkin painting, arts and crafts, face painting, a photo booth, a mechanical bull and a free showing of “The Book of Life.”

Martinez said that with her Hispanic heritage, the event is particularly important to her, and that she thinks of it as a way to honor her late grandparents. Martinez said that honoring life (“vida” in Spanish) is how the event got its name, Moravida.

“The term came from ‘commemorate life,’” Martinez said. “‘Conmemorar’ is ‘commemorate’ in Spanish. So we took a piece of that word, ‘conmemorar,’ and created Moravida.”

Martinez said the fairgrounds wants to provide more diverse events for the community.

“It's definitely the goal of this event in particular,” Martinez said. “We really thought that the Hispanic community is an underserved population in our area, meaning there are not a whole lot of events for their community … We're opening our doors to them, we welcome them and want to be able to provide more opportunities like this.”

While the festival may be celebrating Hispanic culture, Martinez said that anyone is welcome and that it is a family-friendly event for the whole community.

“We also just would like to teach the community more about the culture,” Martinez said. “I think a lot of people don't understand what Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is …and we want to educate everybody on the celebration and what exactly it entails.”

Moses Lake native Noemi Garcia, a member of the festival planning committee, said that the event is important to her since her family comes from Mexico.

“I normally go ahead and I do an altar at my home … remembering those of my family members who have passed on,” Garcia said, “but I figured this would be a great opportunity for those of us that maybe don't have that opportunity to do that at home and just do it as a community.”

Garcia said this year the committee planned for a lot more people due to last year’s large turnout.

“It was excellent,” Garcia said. “We were hoping for a certain number and we far exceeded that number. I mean, I think it was like four times as many people (as) were hoping to get, so it was very, very nice. Everybody seemed to really, really enjoy themselves. It was awesome. It was awesome to see such a big turnout and just people being happy.”

Garcia said the committee wants to see the event get bigger and bigger, and that they are already thinking up ideas for next year’s celebration.

“I just encourage everybody to come out and if they didn't get a chance last year, to come out this year and enjoy the festival with their families,” Garcia said. “They will be guaranteed to have a great time.”

For more information and to register to contribute to the community altar, visit bit.ly/MoravidaFestival.

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.

Schedule of Events:

Oct. 27 ($10):

7:30 p.m. — Doors open

8:30 p.m. — Desmadre Musical

10 p.m. — Los Belman

Midnight — Banda Suprema

Oct. 28 (free):

11 a.m. — Festival begins

Noon — Mariachi Wenatchee

1:15 p.m. — Danza Azteca de Oro

1:50 p.m. — Folklorico Tierra de Sol

2:30 p.m. — Mariachi Halcon del Rio

3-6 p.m. — Trunk-or-Treat

3:30 p.m. — SV Dancers

4 p.m. — Danzas Multiculturales

4:50 p.m. — Kataleya Garcia

6 p.m. — Costume contest and Catrina contest

6:30 p.m. — The Book of Life (free movie)

8 p.m. — Festival closes