"In celebrating Day of the Dead, death does not refer to an absence, but to a living presence." That line comes from Carbondale Arts' Día de los Muertos page, which describes the town's celebration as the largest Día de los Muertos observance in the valley. The holiday falls on November 1 and 2. Carbondale holds its community celebration on November's First Friday, which this year is tomorrow evening, Friday, November 6.
That date is the start of Carbondale's holiday season, and the next week shows why. The Launchpad holds the community ofrenda on its front patio. Starting November 13, the gallery inside the same building becomes a shop for local makers. The Carbondale Clay Center builds a business ofrenda for Friday night, opens a guest artist's show the same evening, and starts its Holiday Invitational three days later. Two of the hosts behind this weekend's altars, Carbondale Arts and the Clay Center, will spend the next seven weeks selling work by local hands.
Friday Night, Hour by Hour
The Carbondale Arts event listing sets the timetable, and it starts earlier than the 5 p.m. headline suggests.
- 4:30 p.m. Face painting, hot chocolate and pan de muerto at the Carbondale Library.
- 5 p.m. The celebration opens in Chacos Park and at the 4th Street Plaza, 76 S. 4th Street, and the food trucks start serving.
- 6 p.m. The procession leaves the Third Street Center, with catrinas, dancers, puppets and performers.
- 6:45 p.m. The procession reaches Chacos Park and the stage program begins, with Folklórico, Cumbre Sol, Mezcla Socials Dance, the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra and El Proyecto de Mariachi.
- 9 p.m. The evening ends.
Three trucks are listed for dinner: El Sabor de México, Taquería El Yaquí and El Bajón de Churros. Community booths include the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen Valley Land Trust, Dance Initiative, the Latino Advisory Board, Powers Art Center, S.A.N.A. and TACAW.
This is a long-running tradition. The Post Independent called last November's event Carbondale Arts' 21st celebration. Its photos showed the procession, the community ofrenda, and people leaving remembrances outside The Launchpad.
Thirteen Altars Between the Library and the Plaza
Carbondale Arts says businesses and locals build ofrendas along Main Street, and this year's listing names 13 participating businesses.
- Mountain Tide Provisions
- 2757 Design Co.
- Flowers on Main
- The Crow and Key
- Bonfire Coffee
- Carbondale Beer Works
- Phat Thai
- Carbondale Clay Center
- Main Street Gallery
- Main Street Liquors
- Poss Architecture & Planning
- Lulubelle
- Carbondale Library
Two businesses are adding more than an altar. Mountain Tide Provisions is hosting the Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment Program, whose members will play 30-minute sets of their favorite vinyl. Nido is serving small bites of pozole, agua fresca and Mexican hot chocolate from Susie Jimenez Productions, and selling spices from the local SOCO Chile Company.
Carbondale Arts doesn't publish a set route, so the order is up to you. Starting at the library at 4:30 and walking toward the plaza before the 6 p.m. procession leaves time to see a good share of the altars.
The community ofrenda on The Launchpad's front patio is the one you can add to. According to Carbondale Arts, it stays up for about a week, and anyone can contribute a photograph or memento.
The Same Evening, a Clay Show Opens on Main
The Clay Center has a second event on November 6, and the timing fits neatly before the procession. Blossom, a show by guest artist Theo Hirschfield, runs November 6 to 8 at 135 Main St. The reception is 5 to 7 p.m., with an artist talk at 5:30. Someone who hears the talk can still reach the Third Street Center before the procession leaves at 6.
Hirschfield is the first invited artist in the Clay Center's new Guest Artist Series. He spent October in residence and invited locals to stop by and say hello, according to The Sopris Sun. He's based in San Diego, where he works as a ceramicist and teaches at Tao Clay. The paper quoted the Clay Center's press release on his recent work: "His biomorphic forms now swell to human height or taller, prompting a physical renegotiation between viewer and art-object." The show is up for only three days, so Friday's reception is the easiest time to see it.
Seven Weeks of Handmade, in the Same Buildings
Once the ofrendas come down, the holiday shows open in the same buildings. Here is the November calendar, built from the Clay Center's events page, Carbondale Arts and the Town of Carbondale's recreation listings.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Día de los Muertos First Friday; Blossom reception | 4th Street Plaza and Chacos Park; 135 Main St. |
| Mon., Nov. 9 | Clay Center Holiday Invitational opens, running through Dec. 23 | Main St. Gallery & The Framer, 399 Main St. |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Deck the Walls Holiday Market opens, running through Dec. 24 | Carbondale Arts Gallery at The Launchpad, 76 S. 4th St. |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Holiday Invitational reception, 6 to 8 p.m. | 399 Main St. |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Clay Center Holiday Open House, 1 to 4 p.m. | 12th Street Annex, 215 12th Street, Unit D |
| Mon., Nov. 23 | Beginner Spin intro wheel workshop, 6 p.m. | Carbondale Clay Center |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Turkey Trot, 9 a.m. | Carbondale Recreation & Community Center, on the Rio Grande Trail |
Deck the Walls brings the season back to where Friday began. The Launchpad's patio holds the community ofrenda, and a week after the procession the gallery inside reopens as a shop. Carbondale Arts says it stocks work by artists from around the Roaring Fork Valley and Colorado, typically handmade candles and cards, jewelry, chocolates, ceramics and soaps. The market opens at 10 a.m. on November 13. Carbondale Arts lists its holiday hours as coming soon, so check the page before planning a weekday visit.
The Holiday Invitational runs on a longer timeline. It opens November 9 and has a reception on Friday, November 13, but the sale isn't until Friday, December 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. Through November, the work is on view, and the sale night falls in the first week of December.
The Clay Center's Second Address
The most useful new place on the calendar is a building many Carbondale residents haven't been inside yet. The Clay Center's 12th Street Annex is a new studio space, and The Sopris Sun reported in September that the Center planned to open it in October. The Center's fall schedule had independent-study sessions starting there October 19.
Executive Director Angela Bruno explained the expansion in a newsletter quoted by The Sopris Sun: "This space allows us flexibility to meet the increasing demand for more programming and outreach, classes, shelf rentals and studio time as we address waitlists and continue to fundraise toward a new building." She added that the extra room gives the Center "the flexibility to keep Carbondale dirty." On its own site, the Clay Center says the Annex could also keep members working if its Main Street studio is interrupted in 2027.
The Holiday Open House on Sunday, November 15, from 1 to 4 p.m., is the public's first easy chance to see the space. It's free, with ceramic ornaments to paint and hot chocolate while supplies last. The Center's listing invites visitors to "see our new studio space." If you've been waiting for a wheel class, registration falls on either side of that weekend. Winter session registration opens November 10 at noon for members and November 17 at noon for the public.
Thanksgiving Week Slows Down
The month gets quieter near the end. The Clay Center's office is closed November 25 through 30 for Thanksgiving break, so the November 23 Beginner Spin workshop is its last scheduled event before the holiday. On Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, November 26, the Town's Turkey Trot leaves the Carbondale Recreation & Community Center at 9 a.m. and runs on the Rio Grande Trail. Deck the Walls and the Holiday Invitational stay open into late December, and the Invitational sale on December 4 starts the next stretch of the season.
The stretch from the November 6 procession to the December 4 Invitational sale gives a clear picture of Carbondale's year, and we pay close attention to calendars like this when we advise clients on the town. If you'd like to talk through Carbondale and the blocks around 4th Street and Main, Aspen Lodge Properties would be glad to hear from you. Schedule a Confidential Consultation.
