Podcast Summary

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart (WNYC)

Episode Title: Flushing Town Hall Celebrates Día de los Muertos with MexFest

Airdate: October 31, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores the Flushing Town Hall's MexFest—a combined Día de los Muertos and Mexican Cultural Arts Festival in Queens, New York. Host Alison Stewart engages with co-artistic directors Christian Avila and Arantxa Araujo to discuss how this event expands the traditions of Día de los Muertos to honor not only those who have died, but also immigrants separated from loved ones. The conversation highlights communal rituals, multidisciplinary art, resilience, and the evolving meaning of cultural festivals for the New York immigrant community.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Día de los Muertos: Meaning, Memory, and Tradition

• Memory & Celebration (01:29)
  • Christian Avila: “It means remembering your loved ones, keeping that memory alive, bringing out their favorite foods, their music ... Each year you have the tradition, you keep that memory alive, you keep them alive. So it’s a celebration.”
• Personal and Communal Grief (01:44)
  • Arantxa Araujo: “By remembering them, we keep their stories alive, their likes. We celebrate, we sing, and keep their lives with us.”
• Community Ofrenda (Altar) (02:11)
  • Christian: “We invited the community to bring their ofrendas ... a picture, a memento, something meaningful ... Muertos is a very personal thing, but it’s shared in community ... the placement [on the altar] is important.”
  • The altar serves as a living record of personal and communal connections.

2. Expanding the Focus: Honoring the Separated and Resilience

• Immigrant Experience (03:02)

  • Arantxa: “Lots of us, including myself and Christian, were immigrants.... There’s a passing in our countries, and we cannot go back. This is a way of remembering while we're here in a different new home, and keeping the connection with people left in different countries.”

• Theme of Resilience (06:33)

  • Arantxa: “We chose the theme of resilience ... changing the idea that when we lose someone, they're not there anymore, but they are still there. We’re keeping their memories alive ... this ritual makes us all stronger.”
  • Christian (07:12): “There’s many people ... physically separated from their loved ones. We are inviting all of that ... to be in community where all emotions are allowed and valid.”

3. Why New York, Why Flushing Town Hall?

• Context and Community (03:45 – 04:41)
  • Christian: “As a Mexican immigrant ... the prominent Latino cultures here are Dominican and Puerto Rican... I wanted to work with New York artists celebrating Mexican culture, not just by Mexicans but anyone.”
  • Previous year was at The Tank; this is the inaugural year at Flushing Town Hall.
  • Arantxa: “There’s a beautiful community in this area of Queens ... everything is participatory ... in the writing workshop, we’re inviting people to write and create a mural, and in the process, we all become part of one story.”

4. Balancing Grief and Joy

• The Dual Nature of Celebration (05:33)
  • Christian: “I’ve lost all my immediate family ... this tradition has really supported me ... It is celebratory. In this country, [death] can be sad, we don’t talk about it a lot. With our Mexican tradition ... we keep their stories and their memories, they’re always with us. All you have to do is reach out, and they’re there.”

5. Art, Performance, and Collective Healing

• Role of Arts in Rituals (08:45)

  • Christian: “Art is a way to express what you’re feeling and also for others to join that ... very communal, very personal.”

• Mutual Understanding Through Expression (09:13)

  • Arantxa: “It’s also ... an act of looking in, understanding what’s happening, how I’m feeling, and then the ability to express that out. Feeling seen is so important ... to combat the erasure that we’re living through.”

• Safety and Testimony (09:42)

  • Christian: “We can’t guarantee safety, especially right now, but ... one activity is a testimonial film. Participants wear beautiful paper mache masks [by artist Aurelia Fernandez]—it’s a way to keep the tradition, protect people, and allow them to share their story or process.”

6. Intercultural Connections and Universality

• Cross-cultural Resonance (10:14 – 10:55)
  • Text from a listener notes that honoring ancestry transcends cultures, from Mesoamerica to Ireland.
  • Arantxa: “We’re trying to bring some of that [connection to the spirit world] to Rituales de Resiliencia. One artist is from Filipino culture ... beautiful to see how different cultures speak to each other.”

7. Highlights of MexFest: Participation, Workshops, and Performances

• Art Workshop: Papel Picado

  • Christian: “It’s a process of making imprints in the paper, then hanging it—an indigenous tradition.”
  • Arantxa: “[Artist] Aurelia ... says that when the papel picado is moving, the spirits of our loved ones are there. I got chills.”
  • Christian: “Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico around this time; it’s said it’s the spirits coming to visit.”

• Writing Workshop (12:02)

  • Arantxa: “We have a bunch of prompts to help people go inward ... letters to self, loved ones, lists of objects, calaverita (traditional Mexican verse). These writings become part of a mural ... eventually painted over, but always there.”

• Dance and Music (12:49 – 14:33)

  • Dance lesson blending traditional and contemporary styles.
  • Christian: “Linda EPO ... unique Latin-fused funk and R&B ... performing after the dance lesson.”
  • Christian: “Then Oliver Opalino and Mariachi Tapatillo—fifth-generation mariachi, continuing a tradition from Puebla. He’s performed at Carnegie Hall, Radio City, and now Flushing Town Hall.”
  • The event celebrates both traditional mariachi and contemporary Latin music from local Queens/Flushing artists.
  • [Sample performances played: Linda at 13:51, Mariachi at 14:33.]

8. Upcoming Events

• Beyond MexFest (15:19)
  • Christian: “Christmas by Calpulli Mexican Dance Company in December."
  • "Mashup on November 21 with Sephirin and Garifuna Dance Ensemble."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Communal Memory:
  Christian: "Muertos is a very personal thing, but it's shared in community." (02:11)

• On Resilience & Loss:
  Arantxa: "This ritual ... makes us all stronger. There's a lot of learning on the way." (06:33)

• On Artistic Expression:
  Christian: "Art is a way to express what you're feeling and also for others to join that." (08:45)

  Arantxa: "Feeling seen is something so beautiful and so important, you know, to combat the erasure that we're living through." (09:13)

• On Papel Picado:
  Arantxa: "Whenever this papel picado is moving, it’s because ... the spirits of our loved ones are there. All of a sudden, I was like, I got chills." (11:29)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:09 – Alison Stewart introduces episode and guests
• 01:29 – What Día de los Muertos means to guests
• 02:11 – Community altar/ofrenda explained
• 03:02 – Honoring immigrants separated from families
• 05:33 – Balancing grief and joy in the celebration
• 06:33 – Exploring the theme of resilience
• 08:45 – The role of art and performance in healing
• 09:42 – Ensuring safety and anonymity in testimonies
• 10:55 – Cross-cultural resonance, Filipino participation
• 11:15 – Papel picado workshop, significance
• 12:02 – Writing workshop details
• 12:56 – Dance lessons and music lineup preview
• 15:19 – Upcoming events: Calpulli and Garifuna performances
• 16:05 – Discount code for listeners

Conclusion

This episode of All Of It offers a deep, heartfelt perspective on how cultural traditions can foster resilience, bridge communities, and honor complex modern realities—particularly for immigrant communities in New York. Through participatory art, music, writing, and communal ritual, MexFest at Flushing Town Hall creates both a vibrant celebration and a safe haven for memory, healing, and cultural pride. The guests invite all to celebrate, participate, and keep the memories of loved ones—and the culture itself—alive and present.