Lake Worth Beach scrambles to save Day of the Dead Festival
10th annual event, tentatively set for Nov. 1, is in jeopardy because of money, staff cuts. ‘I really don't want to see this festival not happen,’ one city commissioner says.
CITY OFFICIALS ARE scrambling to save the 10th annual Dia De Los Muertos festival, a popular Lake Worth Beach Hispanic heritage celebration tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1 but in danger of being canceled.
At a time when Hispanic residents are living in fear of federal immigration policies, the festival’s host agency — a nonprofit within the Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency — approved a budget last month that does not include any money to pay for this year’s event.
Although the city government has had no direct role in the festival, that could change as city commissioners try to save the 2026 event.
“I really don’t want to see this festival not happen,’’ City Commissioner Sarah Malega said at an online pre-agenda workshop July 31, the first public announcement that the 2026 event was in doubt.
“It’s onerous (for) us to help figure out how to make this happen this year, especially with all the torment our community has been going through,’’ she said.
Also referred to by its English name, Day of the Dead is a free event presented by LULA Lake Worth Arts, the CRA’s nonprofit creative partner operating as the Lake Worth Cultural Renaissance Foundation.
At a meeting July 14 before the regular CRA meeting, the CRA Board, voting as the foundation board, approved a budget that “did not include any money for Day of the Dead due to other commitments and lack of a dedicated staff person,” CRA Executive Director Joan Olive said in an email to the Lake Worth Beach Independent.
Oliva said there was no audio or video of the foundation meeting, unlike regular CRA board meetings. But a recent CRA memo sheds light on the decision.
“The foundation does not have the financial capacity to support the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) celebration this year,’’ Emily Theodossakos, the CRA’s marketing and programs manager, said in a memo to the CRA board July 14.
The festival’s budget is around $24,000, Malega said.
In the past, the event was largely paid for with Florida Department of Cultural Affairs grants, but “those grant funds have been significantly reduced, and we will not be receiving support from the state this year,’’ Theodossakos said.
Launched in 2016, Dia De Los Muertos has blossomed into a regional festival attracting visitors from Miami to Fort Pierce. Many attendees dress as a “Catrina,” the famous skeletal face, or “in your finest Calaca attire,’’ according to the CRA website, which still lists this year’s festival.
It takes place at the Hatch building, 1121 Lucerne Ave., one of the few big events west of U.S. 1 in Lake Worth Beach.
“The Día de los Muertos event has grown substantially and now requires major investment in artist fees, production logistics, entertainment, and marketing — costs that our current budget cannot absorb without depleting essential resources,’’ Theodossako said in the memo.
While the CRA’s operating budget covers administrative expenses, gallery maintenance and opportunities for local artists, she said, “allocating funds to produce a large, single-day festival would severely limit our ability to maintain ongoing beautification and arts-based economic development efforts.’’
The two most recent LULA-hosted events at the Hatch, Art Wars and Dia de Los Muertos, “did not produce any net revenue, like in years past,’’ the memo said.
Attendance at last year’s Day of the Dead was down because many potential attendees were worried about immigration raids.
“People are afraid to go out because if they look Hispanic they are eligible to be yanked,’’ City Commissioner Chris McVoy said July 31. “The level of the situation, how bad it is, it’s hard to get your head around.’’
Oliva said: “We plan on bringing the event back next year and hopefully the surrounding neighborhoods will feel more comfortable coming out and participating.’’
But city commissioners agreed July 31 to try to work with the CRA on ways to save this year’s festival.
“We should do whatever we can to make sure this happens,’’ Vice Mayor Mimi May said.
Malega, who led the charge to save the event, emphasized the optics of “the political climate we have right now” and a city agency possibly “canceling the only festival that celebrates Hispanic culture.”
The city’s Leisure Services department could be asked to help, which might be a challenge: About a week before Day of the Dead, the department is hosting the Little Screams Halloween festival in Bryant Park.
CRA board member Richard Mahler, who works as a multimedia specialist for the city of Greenacres, has volunteered to help.
Benny’s on the Beach, which operates restaurants at the Lake Worth pier and casino complex, has offered to help with beverage sponsors, Malega said.
While McVoy said he supports having the city help run this year’s event, he wondered about the broader optics, noting how advocacy groups like the Guatemalan Maya Center have been calling on city leaders since last year to take a harder stance against aggressive immigration policies affecting many city residents.
“I do have to say that when the level of fear, when people are afraid to go out on the streets, when people are afraid to go to work or shop for groceries, that our support is only to support a festival for the dead has a bit of a ring to it,’’ McVoy said.
Commissioner Anthony Segrich said he wants the city to try to save this year’s event. He said he hopes the festival’s financial issues motivate city leaders to lobby Palm Beach County commissioners about Lake Worth Beach getting a better return in county tourist tax revenue.
“We pay well over $2 million a year into tourist development tax from our city. We have received zero dollars and we hold some of the largest festivals in Palm Beach County,’’ he said.
“Palm Beach County is supposed to be spending tourist development tax on tourism and culture. This would qualify,’’ he said, referring to Dias De Los Muertos.
(Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated where Richard Mahler works. He is a multimedia specialist for the city of Greenacres.)
I am not OK with this festival being cancelled. Downize if necessary, limit it to indoors if necessary to address the fear of participating, but by all and every means, do not deprive our Latin American neighbors of this culturally important celebration.
Very sad that in this great country we have residents living in fear of our government.