Day of the Dead celebrations include traditional Lila Downs concert

With many in-person Day of the Dead events canceled due to the coronavirus, a number of celebrations are moving online, including a concert by renowned singer Lila Downs. 

The show by the Grammy Award-winning singer has become an annual tradition, but this year the Oaxaca-born musician will perform at the National Auditorium without an audience in a free event that will be broadcast online on Sunday at 9 p.m. CST, and on television station 22.

Downs, one of the most influential singers in Latin America, will be joined on stage by 10 musicians and 10 dancers as she performs diverse genres, such as rancheras, boleros, jazz, hip -hop, cumbia and pop. In addition, a documentary filmed in Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca, honoring the dead will be shown.

“The Day of the Dead has taken on a very special meaning in this year 2020, a year in which the pandemic has forced us to transform our ways of meeting, our ways of forming community, creating culture,” Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto said, said, urging people to stay home to honor their loved ones.

“Let’s commemorate as a nation a year that has no precedent and that we will never forget, but above all, let’s take care of life,” she said.

There will also be a Day of the Dead tribute to those who have lost their lives due to the pandemic through an altar at the National Palace, which people can also tour virtually.

Twenty people will place the offering in the Palace’s Honor Yard, including members of the  Totonaco, Náhuatl, Tarahumara, Rarámuri, Zapotec and Maya indigenous groups.

“It will be a great moment for reflection on what has happened to us as humanity,” Frausto said. “Culture, as our president says, has always saved us. This will not be the exception.”

Source: Milenio (sp)