¡Viva México!
On Thursday, Rockefeller Center kicked off a week-long celebration paying tribute to Mexico's heritage and beloved tradition, "Día de Muertos."
For the second consecutive year, "Mexico Week: Día de Muertos at Rockefeller Center" is offering a vibrant experience highlighting art, food and drinks honoring Mexico’s heritage.
The Center Plaza features a massive "ofrenda" -- an alter that honors loved ones who have since passed away. On each end of the ofrenda there is an "alebrije" -- or brightly colored sculpture. The two folk art sculptures featuring fantastical creatures well-known in Mexican culture are of a massive jaguar and a Quetzalcoatl, a feathered-serpent Mesoamerican deity.
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There are also catrinas -- the popular ornate skeleton figures -- honoring superstars Elvis and Mexican actress and singer María Félix, also known as "La Doña."
Additionally, a mariachi was present to serenade the masses during the kickoff.
Mayor Eric Adams, Consul General of Mexico Jorge Islas, and various city leaders as well as representatives of Mexico were on hand to join in the kick-off, noting the contributions the North American country has offered over the years to the world, including New York City, most recently during the pandemic.
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"[The Mexican community is] now the third largest immigrant population here in the City of New York, there is such a significant role in the role you played during COVID when so many people were sheltered in place, so many people were social distancing, so many people were unable to leave their homes. It was our emerging immigrant population, and specifically the Mexican community that carried out the role to ensure that this city was still able to continue to function and that is something that we need to acknowledge," Adams said. "The immigrant community does not need America, America needs the immigrant community."
Mexico's the Day of the Dead, Día de muertos o Día de los muertos, is a holiday traditionally celebrated on the first and second day of November. It is a joyful celebration where friends and family gather to pay their respects and remember loved ones who have since passed away.
"We have been celebrating this tradition since pre-Hispanic times, at least 2,000 years before Christ," Islas said, adding that the exhibit at Rockefeller Center "allows us to display the best of Mexico in front of the world's most diverse and multicultural public"
"Mexico Week: Día de Muertos at Rockefeller Center" runs from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2.
