🌺💀✨ Day of the Dead Festival 2025 @ Smith’s Alternative ✨💀🌺
29 Oct – 2 Nov 2025

A week of colour, music, film, poetry, and tradition celebrating 'Día de los Muertos' in the heart of Canberra. Explore the ofrenda altar, join workshops, hear poetry in Spanish, English, and Nahuatl, watch films, bring the kids for family events, and dance late into the night with Los Chavos, Pachamama, Raio De Sol & Mexico Lindo.

From quiet reflection to vibrant celebration, Smith’s comes alive with the spirit of remembrance and joy.

📅 TUE - OCT 28th 🕛 6pm – 9pm

🏵️ Ofrenda Viewing + Jazz Jam + Visuals 🏵️

📍 Smith’s (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego

📅 WED - OCT 29th 🕛 6pm – 9pm

🏵️ Community Ofrenda Night 🏵️

📍 Smith’s (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego

📅 THU - OCT 30th 🕛 6pm – 9pm

🎥 Film Night + Popcorn🎥

📍 Smith’s (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego

📅 Friday, October 31st 🕛 6pm – 9pm

🪇 Storytelling & Music 🪇

📍 Smith’s (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego

📅 SATURDAY - NOV 1st - ALL-DAY FESTIVAL

🏵️ Ofrenda viewing + Market - ALL DAY 🏵️

🕛 11:30am – 8:30pm 📍 Smith’s (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego

💀 🎨 Sugar Skull Painting Workshop (x2) 💀 🎨

🕛 #1 @ 11:30am – 12:30pm

🕛 #2 @ 3:00pm – 5:30pm

📍 Smith’s Alternative (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego (Skulls from $12 for painting!)

☀️📙Book launch: Itstetl Tonatij: Obsidian Sun ☀️📙
🕛 1pm – 2:30pm📍Smith’s (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego

A new collection of Nahuatl poetry by acclaimed Mexican poet and educator Juan Hernández Ramírez, whose work bridges Indigenous traditions and contemporary voices. Conversation with publisher Gabriel Covarrubias, Sydney-based artist and founder of Paper Waves Books, known for cross-cultural projects linking Mexico, China, and Australia. Live readings and discussion of the book’s connection to Day of the Dead themes of memory, language, and continuity.

🪇 DAY OF THE DEAD NIGHT PARTY 🎷🥁🪇💃

🕛 9pm – 11:30pm📍DOWNSTAIRS
🎟️ BUY TICKETS HERE $20/$25 (via Smiths Website)

🎉 Main Party Night:

Los Chavos – An 8-piece explosion of Latin reggae energy Los Chavos channel the festival sounds and urban rhythms of Latin America to sway hips from Canberra to Colombia. Fronted by Andy Jauregui from Bolivia and backed by seasoned musicians from Australia and South America they have been moving crowds for over 15 years in Canberra and the festival circuit.Los Chavos are proud to be on the vanguard of original urban latin music in Australia - playing Afro-Latin rhythms such as cumbia, dub/reggae, merengue, timba and chakarera but never straying too far from their ska/reggae roots. Romantic ballads were given a ska/cumbia twist and hard-hitting merengue horns are mixed with calypso-hiphop.
Pachamama – Blending romance and revolution as only Latinos know how, PachaMama is an innovative five-piece ensemble that fuses the rich traditions of Latin American music with multi-instrumental combinations. Well known for utilising exotic instruments like charango (Andean string instrument) and bouzouki (greek string instrument) and enchanting melodies achieved masterfully with flute and melodica along with complex rhythms made possible by a combination of guitar and cuatro. Pachamama will make you smile and dance. They will tell you a story before every song, something that, added to their music, will dissolve the language barrier to the point that you will want to move to the up-tempo beats or sit down and close your eyes to just listen to the heartfelt ballads.
Mexico Lindo – Special Day of the Dead performance
Raio de Sol – Raio de Sol is Canberra’s community samba band - playing rhythms that will get your feet dancing, bring joy to your heart and a smile to your face. We play massed acoustic percussion beats that are intoxicating, vibrant and for everyone, young and old. Raio de Sol is a group with heart – a big, bold, warm and welcoming heart that embraces community. Raio de Sol - meaning ‘sunbeam’ in Portuguese - is apolitical, non-religious and non-discriminatory and welcomes anyone from all walks of life to join.
Best Catrina/Catrín Competition – Prizes for the best skeleton costumes inspired by the iconic Mexican figures.

📅 SUN - NOV 2nd 🕛 12pm – 2pm

🎥 Family Film Day + Popcorn🎥

Screening of Disney/Pixar’s Coco (in English with Spanish subtitles)📍 Smith’s (Upstairs) - 🎟️ Cost: Free with Rego