Join us for our 3rd annual Dia de los Muertos Celebration!

After 31 years, community members came together to bring back the Newton Fiesta!

We celebrated the day with food and craft vendors, dance troupes ( Danza Reyna del Tepayec & Azteca Dance Troupe), and mariachi music performed by Mariachi Jalisco.

Newton’s Latino Vision Association and Newton Public Library present an evening with Connie Palacioz and Anita Mendoza, including a screening of a new documentary about Newton’s Mexican American Fast Pitch Softball Tournament.

Connie (Cuellar) Palacioz is Newton’s real-life Rosie the Riveter. A Newton High School alum who recently turned 99, Connie went to work at Boeing in 1944, installing rivets in B-29 Superfortress bombers. Now, she volunteers at the B-29 Doc Hangar, Education and Visitors Center in Wichita, helping guests to learn the stories behind one of only two B-29s in the world that can still fly. To read more about Connie, click here: https://www.usd373.org/.../alumni-spotlight-newtons-own...

Anita Mendoza is a member of the North End Wichita Historical Society. With support from Humanities Kansas, she interviewed participants in the Newton Mexican American Fast Pitch Softball Tournament, which celebrated its 75th year last summer. Anita will be on hand to screen the resulting documentary, “Mexican Americans Hit Home Runs in Kansas,” and answer questions.

The documentary screening will be in-person only, but other portions of the event will be livestreamed on the Newton Public Library Facebook page.

Our second year evolved into a much bigger celebration. Being moved into the gymnasium at St. Mary Catholic School due to weather was a big challenge, but us Newtonians are strong and we were not going to let the weather take us down! This year we had over 20 booths, more dance troupes, a presentation on Latino history involving Athletic park, and a presentation on the elements of the Ofrenda were some of the things we had in store for this event. This year we were also able to announce the Anthony Villanueva Scholarship!

Our first annual Dia de los Muertos celebration took place at Military Park on October 28th 2022. We all came together to show the importance and history of the Latino community in Newton. We had arts and crafts, Artwork from local artists, Dance Troupes, food vendors, and more!