Orlando, Fla. — Downtown arts organizers staged their seventeenth Day of the Dead and Monster night on Wednesday evening, filling CityArts at 39 S. Magnolia Ave. and the adjoining Magnolia Avenue street with exhibits and a block party that ran through the evening hours.
Gallery rooms paired ofrenda-style Day of the Dead pieces with Halloween monster art. On the street, organizers lined booths, temporary art pieces, face painters and food trucks while bands rotated on stage.
CityArts occupies the historic Rogers Kiene Building and anchors the nonprofit district’s gallery calendar, which also includes the 3rd Thursday Gallery Hop and a monthly music series.
The stage slate mixed mariachi, folkloric dance, a belly-dance set, a banda act, a featured vocalist and Ravelli. Marchers also led a Day of the Dead procession along downtown blocks during the evening.
District executive director Barbara Hartley said the event remains one of the year’s most anticipated downtown gatherings and a chance for art, culture and neighbors to share the same blocks.
Door admission stayed free if guests chipped in a small suggested donation. A premium Sugar Skull package sold for fifty dollars and bundled gallery entry with a meal credit good at a food truck plus a pair of drink tickets.
Organizers pitched the dual Day of the Dead and monster theme as a midweek draw for families and art crowds ahead of Halloween weekend in the Magnolia corridor. CityArts staff kept galleries open for the full window so visitors could move between indoor exhibits and the street party without a second ticket.