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Day of the Dead celebration moves to Medina Triennial site on Saturday

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2025 at 12:14 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers: Alma de México does a folkloric dance on Oct. 26, 2024 during a Day of the Dead celebration at the Orleans County YMCA. After six years at the YMCA, the event will move to the Medina Triennial at 345 North Main St. on Saturday.

MEDINA – The Día de los Muertos Festival “Day of the Dead” will be on Saturday in Medina, and will be at a different location this year.

After six years at the YMCA on Pearl Street, the event is shifting to the Medina Triennial headquarters at North Main St. The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council (GO Art!) continues as the main organizer of this event.

The celebration is reimagined this year as an exhibit-based cultural education program, keeping the traditions alive while helping to provide accessibility and safety, organizers said.

Some of the exhibits and features will include:

  • Large Ofrenda (altar): For community members and students to place battery-operated candles, photos and letters to loved ones.
  • Mojigangas: Giant papier-mâché or cardboard puppets, often 10–12 feet tall. They’re worn over a performer’s body with a harness or frame. The person inside sees through a mesh or cutout near the puppet’s neck or chest. Their purpose is to bring humor, liveliness, and visual spectacle to the celebration, a mix of satire and joy symbolizing the unity of life and death.
  • Storyboard Wall: Large, bilingual (English/Spanish) visual timeline introducing the history, meaning, and evolution of Día de los Muertos — from its Indigenous roots to modern-day traditions.
  • Video Screenings: Past festival footage and short documentaries played on screens.
  • Interactive Kids’ Activities (field trips & public):
  • Tissue paper marigolds (symbolic flower).
  • “Catrina” figurines (cone dress, marshmallow head, tissue hat, pipe cleaner arms, Día de los Muertos designs).
  • Picture frame + remembrance letter project (for altar display).
  • Cultural Introduction: Brief introduction of Medina Triennial and Dia de los Muertos at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. by Federico Rosario, Community Engagement & Programs Coordinator of Medina Triennial.