On November 3, ¡Pachanga!, the event production company celebrating Latinx culture in Chicago, hosted their second annual Dia de Los Muertos event at 360 Chicago. Filled with mariachi, catrinas, ofrendas, and a lot of food, Chicagoans honored the dead in community.
For their next event, ¡Pachanga! is preparing to ring in 2024 with a New Year’s Eve party at Seven Night Club. Tickets are available for purchase for $40, but ticket prices will increase as the event approaches.
Guanajuato, Mexico artist Fosil Muralista airbrushing a woman portraying a Catrina during the event. La Catrina, an elegant skeleton with vibrant colors, hats, and dresses, is a contemporary symbol of the Day of the Dead.
Credit: Paul ElliottCredit: Paul ElliottCredit: Paul ElliottThe Catrinas at this year’s celebration were members of Pilsen’s Gym who were airbrushed and adorned with flower crowns by artists Jose Art and Fosil Muralista.
Credit: Paul ElliottPerformers at the annual event included Mariachi Estrellas de Chicago as well as performance by Collaborative Institute of Cultural Arts and Kit Kat Lounge. Credit: Paul ElliottCredit: Paul ElliottUrban Warriors, a nonprofit that engages Chicago youth via sports and the arts, curated an ofrenda for the night. Credit: Paul ElliottErnesto Gonzalez, cofounder of Urban Warriors, poses next to the organization’s ofrenda, which members of the public contributed to by submitting photographs of their deceased loved ones.
Credit: Paul ElliottDaniel Martinez and Memo Duarte, who helped cofound ¡Pachanga! in 2017, DJ’ed and MC’ed the night, respectively.
Credit: Paul ElliottCredit: Paul ElliottAttendees were able to participate in face painting that formed part of the event’s tianguis or traditional open-air market. Credit: Paul Elliott
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Paul Araki Elliott is a photographer and filmmaker based in Chicago, and the co-founder of multimedia production company thankyou.inc. He specializes in conceptual and environmental portraiture, and has worked with artists such as Tinashe, Towkio, and Vic Mensa. His work has appeared in Vibe, the Chicago Reader, TimeOut, and Complex.
Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales is a Mexican-American from Belmont Cragin and the labor editor at the Weekly. As an independent journalist she’s passionate about covering communities of color with a social justice lens.
