A crowd estimated at more than 8,000 lined University Parks Drive on Saturday to watch Waco’s fifth-annual Dia de los Muertos parade.
Spectators witnessed the culmination of months of preparation, from designing to building and assembling every costume, float and puppet.
For one small group of Baylor University students, building a puppet was a chance to learn firsthand about the impact of the festival on the community.
Four students in the Creative Economies elective class had four hours to conceptualize and build a puppet for the parade, using basic materials and limited design experience.
It’s one of several one-credit classes in the Philanthropy and Public Service Program, which fulfills new requirements for community engagement in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Julie Cervantes of Creative Waco, an organizer of the parade, taught the class exploring the connections among arts, cultural heritage and economic development. As a case study, the class learned about the Mexican government’s efforts to make Dia De Los Muertos an international cultural observance, and the impact such festivals have on cities like Waco.
Each Tuesday afternoon in October, the students gathered in the Moody Memorial Library makerspace to brainstorm and construct a puppet for the parade, which had a theme this year of “alebrijes” – the whimsical carved animals made famous in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
With no time to spare, the group landed on the idea of a bird puppet made of bamboo, cardboard, fabric, and LED lights.
