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Skeletons, altars for Day of the Dead

The Sonoma Community Center will celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with lively entertainment, music, dancing, food and a public altar on Thursday, Nov. 1 from 6 to 9 p.m. The event is free to attend, and skeleton costumes are encouraged.

  The evening will include a cultural Día De los Muertos dance performance by Sonoma’s Ballet Folklorico Quetzalén and local favorite Tudo Bem will provide music for plenty of dancing.

  Local sculptor Jim Callahan will again create the 15-foot public altar outside the Maloney Family Water-Wise Garden. Crowned with flames and glowing with amber lights, the sculpture will hold nearly three-dozen portraits of some of Sonoma’s treasured citizens of the past. Visitors are invited to participate by dedicating a golden paper butterfly to a loved one and adding it to the memorial. “Sonoma has an extraordinary history. This Valley has attracted countless interesting and diverse people over many decades. This altar is a wonderful and moving way to honor just some of the many notable people who have made extraordinary contributions to this valley,” said Margaret Hatcher, special projects manager at the center. 

  The public altar installation will be on display in front of the center from Oct. 26 through Nov. 5.

  The Sonoma Community Center is located at 276 E. Napa St. in Sonoma.

  For more information about the Sonoma Community Center, call 938-4626, ext. 1, or visit sonomacommunitycenter.org.