Skeletons in their best clothes: AWC's Catrinas and Catrines contest is Oct. 29

Dressing up as a dead person, done properly, is a lot of work. The face paint alone is a project. Then come the flowers, the lace, the hat wide enough to shade a small car, and for the men, a suit sharp enough to make everyone else look underdressed.

On Thursday, Oct. 29, Arizona Western College is giving people a reason to go to all that trouble, and a place to show it off.

AWC is hosting a Catrinas and Catrines contest at 3:30 p.m. in the 3C Breezeway on its Yuma campus, together with the Consulate of Mexico in Yuma and the Yuma County Arts and Cultural Group. It's free. You don't have to compete to come, either. The college says anyone can attend, whether they're in the contest or just there to watch.

Who La Catrina is

She's the elegant skeleton in the big flowered hat, one of the most recognizable images of Día de los Muertos.

She started out as a joke with an edge. The Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada created her more than a century ago to mock middle-class Mexicans who were preoccupied with European high society. The point wasn't subtle. Wear whatever fancy hat you like; you're going to end up a skeleton like everybody else. Diego Rivera later put her in a famous Mexico City mural, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central, which helped turn her into a national icon.

Over time she became something warmer than satire. Today La Catrina is one of the best-known faces of Día de los Muertos, the early-November holiday when families remember the people they've lost. Her male counterpart, the Catrín, usually turns up in a suit and top hat.

Contests like this one are where people take the look seriously.

How the contest works

The AWC announcement lists cash prizes:

• First place: $400
• Second place: $300
• Third place: $200
• People's Choice: $100

If you want to compete, you have to register in advance through the Eventbrite link on the college's event page. Contestants check in at 3 p.m. in the Francis Morris Conference Room in the 3C Building. The college hasn't published judging criteria or age rules, so if you're wondering whether your kid's costume qualifies, ask before you show up.

AWC says there will be pan de muerto and hot chocolate, plus live entertainment.

Martha Cordova, AWC's director of Transfer Services, said in the announcement that the competition is a way for the community to "honor tradition, showcase incredible talent, and bring to life the beauty of Catrinas and Catrines for all to enjoy."

Then the altars

The costumes are the showy part. The altars are the heart of the holiday.

After the contest, AWC invites people over to the MAC Building for an altares celebration with a mariachi performance. The AWC Culinary Student Club will be selling homemade pan de muerto and sugar skulls. An altar, or ofrenda, is where families set out photographs of loved ones who have died, along with flowers and the things those people loved, as a way of welcoming them back for a visit, as the Smithsonian explains.

The college hasn't posted a separate start time for the altares event, and its own listings disagree on when the afternoon wraps up. One says 5 p.m.; another says 6:30 p.m. If the timing matters for your plans, the AWC Transfer Center can sort it out at (928) 344-7638.

Admission is free. The skeletons will be dressed for the occasion. What it costs you is a Thursday afternoon, and maybe a few dollars for sugar skulls.

Sources

• AWC hosts Catrinas and Catrines contest Oct. 29
• Catrinas & Catrines Competition 2026 event page
• La Calavera Catrina
• Día de los Muertos Family Zone