Towering over Legion Park, a 15-foot skeleton in a flowing red dress and wide-brimmed hat will greet visitors to Woodburn’s Fiesta Mexicana this weekend. With accents of black lace, her gown is patterned with roses, a nod to Portland, the city of roses.
She is La Catrina, Mexico’s elegantly dressed symbol of death, and a reminder that “what is remembered cannot die.”
“When a person dies, people still remember them,” Esther Velázquez Loza, the artist who created La Catrina, said in Spanish. “That person doesn’t die. They die when the person has stopped thinking about them and remembering them.”
Rooted in Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) traditions, La Catrina has become a cultural icon recognized around the world, from her origins in Mexican political satire to towering statues like the 92-foot figure in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Aug. 15-17, visitors to Woodburn’s Fiesta Mexicana can visit and learn about La Catrina’s origins in Mexican culture. The exhibit is just a small piece of the annual festival, which has been a staple in Woodburn for over 60 years.
The three-day-event will include a variety of artisans and food vendors from different parts of Mexico, fair rides, activities, live music, dance performances and soccer and pickleball tournaments.
Beginning as an end of harvest celebration in 1964, the festival has become woven into the community, said Maricela Guerrero, public information officer and communications manager for the city of Woodburn.
“It has become such a staple, celebrating one of those cultural mixes and diversities that we do have in this city,” Guerrero said. “It represents our tradition, our culture, our language and it’s a great way to celebrate that.”
Velázquez Loza’s Catrina carries a piece of that Mexican tradition to the Pacific Northwest. Born in Ojo De Agua De Latillas, a small town in Jalisco — the same state that’s home to Puerto Vallarta’s towering Catrina — she was drawn to the figure’s symbolic meaning.
For her, the 15-foot statue is not only a tribute to loved ones who have died, but also a way to keep Mexican traditions alive far from home. Just as La Catrina preserves the memory of those no longer with us, Velázquez Loza hopes her work will help preserve the culture that shaped her.
“For me, what I want is for them to know the history, the origin of La Catrina,” Velázquez Loza said. “Many recognize her, but where does La Catrina come from?”
Mexican illustrator Jose Guadalupe Posada created La Catrina in the early 1900s as a satirical character representing high-society obsession with European customs. La Catrina was later used as the central image in Diego Rivera’s mural “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park,” a painting that depicts a collection of important figures from Mexican history.
This weekend in Woodburn, La Catrina’s story will appear alongside the sounds of mariachi and the bright colors of folklorico skirts. Leading some of those dancers is Rosa Floyd, a kindergarten teacher for Woodburn School District and dance instructor for Cosecha Mestiza.
Floyd founded the dance group 24 years ago, starting with six students. The group now includes 140 students from third grade all the way to high school, who perform baile folklórico, a traditional Mexican folk dance style. Cosecha Mestiza has performed all over the state including for Woodburn Fiesta Mexicana, the Trail Blazers halftime show and the Oregon House of Representatives.
“A lot of our kids in that district are never going to be able to go to Mexico,” Floyd said. “This is the way that they connect with their culture.”
That connection runs deep in Woodburn, where over 60% of the city’s 26,013 residents identify as Latino, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. While many residents trace their roots to Mexico, there are also increasing populations from Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central American countries.
“Even though it might be called Fiesta Mexicana, I think it really does encompass many and just brings people together,” Guerrero said. “So for us to continue to do this is to continue to highlight, to showcase and to celebrate who we are.”
If you go: noon-11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16 and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17; Legion Park; 1385 Park Ave., Woodburn; free to attend all day Friday and until 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, $5 entry fee after 5 p.m.; woodburn-or.gov/community-services/page/woodburn-fiesta-mexicana
— Chiara Profenna covers religion, faith and cultural connections. Reach her at 503-221-4327; cprofenna@oregonian.com or @chiaraprofenna.
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