Celebrate Dia de los Muertos in Islamorada Nov. 3

A vibrant Dia de los Muertos celebration is to take place in Islamorada Sunday, Nov. 3, with a sugar skull-making workshop for kids and festive live music.

The 2-5 p.m. event is presented by Community Arts and Culture. Activities are to begin at Limelight Studios and Gallery and continue in the adjacent beer garden at Florida Keys Brewing Co., 81611 Old Highway in the Morada Way Arts and Cultural District.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, celebrations — unlike Halloween events that embrace mischief and spooky elements — are happy occasions designed to unite the living and the dead. Events are often an explosion of color and life-affirming joy, where participants invite their dearly departed to join them in a celebration of their life and heritage.

Families traditionally attend Dia de los Muertos events in calavera style, wearing face paint and attire that reflects a skeleton or the dead, to celebrate and honor deceased loved ones.

Activities are to begin at 2 p.m. at Limelight with a calavera sugar skull-making workshop and face painting. Cost is $15 per person for kids and young adults and $25 for adults age 21 and over, with registration available on Eventbrite.

World music with beat and roots grooves by the Fabi World trio begins at 2 p.m. with free admission in the beer garden, followed at 3 p.m. by the rousing Mariachi Veracruzano Miami band and ending with a final set by Fabi World at 4 p.m.

Attendees are invited to wear bright colors, with or without calavera-style face paint and costumes.

Food is to be available from the food truck A Moveable Feast, with Florida Keys Brewing Co.’s selection of microbrews on tap.

Community Arts and Culture, the event organizer, is a nonprofit organization that presents the arts as a tool for education and nurtures local and international musical artists that exemplify the diversity of the South Florida community.

Festival information: communityartsandculture.org/day-of-the-dead

###