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Austinites celebrate Dia de los Muertos at first-ever Muertos Mercado

The event, which was delayed one week due to rain, featured over 30 vendors, live performances and a new art installation.

AUSTIN, Texas — Dia de Los Muertos has come and gone, but Austinites continued the Day of the Dead celebration one week later.

Hundreds turned out for the Muertos Mercado event at Republic Square on Saturday, hosted by Downtown Austin Alliance and Mexic-Arte Museum.

The free event featured live performances, more than 30 vendors and a community ofrenda to honor loved ones.

It’s the first time the museum’s held the event at Republic Square.

“Every year, we have a festival and parade where we also have a Muertos Mercado, but that’s always in the very last weekend in October,” said Kaitlyn Zaldana, the special events and marketing coordinator at Mexic-Arte Museum. “We usually have about 20,000 people come out to that event, and so we wanted to replicate it on Day of the Dead.”

The original event was planned for Nov. 2, the actual Day of the Dead, but it was postponed one week due to rain.

The Mexic-Arte Museum worked with Colectivo Última Hora, a Mexico City-based art collective, to create four fiberglass skulls hand-painted by four Austin artists, each one helping bring the area’s history to life.

“The four areas are Mexican American heritage, the Black community, the history of Republic Square itself and the Tonkawa tribe,” Zaldana said. “So, the idea there is really just to highlight all of the different communities that are here in Austin that have been here in the heart of Republic Square.”

The installation, Las Calaveras at Republic Square, will be on display through Nov. 24.

Mexic-Arte Museum’s Day of the Dead installation will continue through Jan. 5.

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