Laughter, pride and excitement filled the air in Long Beach as the annual Día de los Muertos festival returned Sunday. After the City cancelled last year’s Día de los Muertos parade due to concerns about immigration enforcement, they revitalized the festival this year.
Several hundred people gathered to pay their respects, honor their loved ones and celebrate as a community at Rainbow Lagoon.
Tents and local vendors filled Rainbow Lagoon in a U-shaped pattern, selling food such as tacos, burritos and horchata, as well as small, colorful Day of the Dead trinkets.
Tables lined the park with candles and picture frames of loved ones lost in the community and activities such as drawing, face painting and tic-tac-toe. There was a community altar to pay homage to victims of ICE with candles and picture frames, which included Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano and Keith Porter Jr.
Many attendees dressed as elegant Catrinas and El Catrín charros — even one dog was painted black and white to resemble an alibrije.
As the sun set over Long Beach, friends and families huddled together to dance and watch performances in awe, including music by two-time Grammy Award-winning band Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea.
Rows of colorful papel picado and colorful lights surrounded the Lagoon, creating a calming atmosphere as twilight hit and families rejoiced in memory of their loved ones.
Samuel Chacko
Photo Editor
Samuel Chacko is an award-winning photojournalist from Long Beach, California. Samuel currently works as a freelance journalist for multiple publications and he is a class of 2025 Cal State Long Beach graduate. Samuel loves watching sports (the Ravens and the Yankees) and taking photos.
Check out more of Samuel’s work here: https://samuelchacko.com/
