Every year, more than 100,000 visitors flock to Oakland’s Fruitvale for the Día de los Muertos Festival, which the nonprofit The Unity Council launched in 1996. This year should be especially joyous as the popular community gathering turns 30. But, with the looming threat of a federal immigration enforcement “surge,” business owners fear U.S. immigration enforcement agencies might still target the festival, given it takes place in the hub of Oakland’s Latino immigrant community.
Those involved with the festival and the Fruitvale businesses that derive a significant proportion of their annual income from the event are concerned people will stay away, attendance will drop, and what has been a tough year will only get worse.
This year’s theme is “Aquí estamos y no nos vamos” (Here we are, and we’re not going anywhere). The theme reflects the resilience of the immigrant community and showcases unity, according to The Unity Council website.
The festival features ofrendas (altars) assembled by various community members, showcased along East 12th Street between 33rd and 35th Avenues. There will be three stages with live music: one on Fruitvale Avenue, one on 35th Avenue, and the last on 41st Avenue, all along International Boulevard, along with Aztec dancing and blessings, a lowrider car show, and a variety of vendors.
One of the most popular ofrendas that embellish East 12th Street each year is that of the The Oakland Latino Firefighters Association — colloquially known as the Oakland Bomberos — a nonprofit launched in 2018 by Oakland Fire Department Lieutenant Gustavo Gonzalez.
“We always look forward to this event. A lot of us have been doing it for years, and some of our members grew up going to the festival. It is our chance not only to honor fallen firefighters but also, the festival gives us the chance to interact with the community in a way that we don’t always get to,” Gonzalez said. “But it has been a mixed bag of emotions. I don’t even know what words to use. What is happening is personal. A lot of us are here because our parents immigrated.”
Radio legend Chuy Gomez will host one of the live music stages. On Oct. 17, during his radio show on 102.1 JAMS the respected DJ and emcee spoke to Jose Rivera, lead singer of the Oakland cumbia band Los Bahianatos, about the significance of performing in his hometown. The band has played the stage that Gomez hosts for the past three years.
“I was at the first one 30 years ago,” Rivera told Gomez. “Being a spectator and being there as a performer are two different things. It’s always a pleasure to see people dancing to our music, especially in my hometown and my barrio Fruitvale because that’s where I’m from.”
There are flyers posted on various poles around Fruitvale to help people know what to do in case there’s a sighting of an immigration officer. Credit: Azucena Rasilla/The Oaklandside
Planning for the possibility of a federal raid
Caheri Gutierrez, The Unity Council’s director of fund development and communications, told The Oaklandside that conversations about what the festival would look like this year began when Trump took office in January.
“This year’s theme is The Unity Council’s statement of defiance against the federal administration because of their direct attacks on the community that we serve,” Gutierrez said. “Our theme also guided us in making the decision of not cancelling the festival.”
Gutierrez said that the Unity Council began having conversations with city officials and the emergency services department to prepare an emergency preparedness plan in case federal agents were to come into Oakland and target the festival. The Unity Council also teamed up with other organizations already doing work on the ground, such as Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership (ACILEP), Faith in Action, Bay Resistance, Centro Legal De La Raza, and Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation.
Two crucial safety components added to this year’s festival include up to 70 volunteers trained by ACILEP and Bay Resistance to act as “ICE watchers.” These volunteers are in addition to the regular crew who work at the festival. A “Know Your Rights Pavilion,” strategically placed at the corner of 35th Avenue and International Boulevard — one of the most prominent areas of the festival — will offer resources, training, and pro bono consultations (with limited availability).
“We feel really prepared. We have multiple layers of safety plans in place,” Gutierrez said. “We also feel like this is not a moment to shrink. That’s exactly what the federal administration wants us to do; it is part of their playbook.”
Despite all the safety precautions The Unity Council has put in place for Sunday’s festivities, some long-standing merchants on the commercial corridor still doubt there will be big crowds and at least two vendors pulled out from the event citing safety concerns.
Eva Saavedra has been a culinary fixture in Fruitvale since 1997, when she opened El Huarache Azteca with her husband, Juan Chavez, who passed away seven years ago.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty as to what could potentially happen,” Saavedra said in Spanish during a phone interview. “People are scared and undecided as to whether or not it is safe to come out to the festival.”
Saavedra said that since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown, sales have plummeted by 50%. With federal agents targeting cities across the country, the fear has become even more palpable, leading customers to stay home.
“I’ve gotten calls from customers asking if it is safe to come to the restaurant and wondering if we have seen any federal agents around,” she said.
Saavedra said the Día de los Muertos festival represents the most significant annual economic boost for businesses in the area and also helps them recoup from sluggish sales earlier in the year.
Although she remains slightly optimistic, she told The Oaklandside that she has chosen to scale back the amount of food she will prepare for the festival in case the enormous crowds of previous years don’t show on Sunday.
“I have faith that we are going to be OK,” she said.
Ofrendas, altars honoring the dead like the one pictured from the 2021 festival, are at the center of Día de los Muertos. Credit: Azucena Rasilla/The Oaklandside
‘Show up with your pocketbook’
Like Saavedra, Enrique Soriano and his parents have owned businesses in Fruitvale for over three decades. Soriano operates Tacos Los Michoacanos, a food truck inside a small empty lot at the corner of 35th Avenue and International Boulevard. His parents run and operate El Palacio de las Novias y Quinceañeras, a bridal shop two blocks away on International Boulevard.
Soriano is part of the Comunidad Comerciantes Fruitvale, a grassroots group launched in 2023 to raise awareness of the need for public safety in the area.
“The situation that happened last week scared a lot of people, and people were being asked to stay home,” Soriano said. “If you’re asking people to stay at home, that is going to affect business a lot, and it is also going to instill a lot of fear into people who aren’t aware of their rights.”
Like Saavedra, Soriano agreed the festival is the “biggest money maker” for the neighborhood businesses. He often sells four times as much on the day of the festival as he would on any given Sunday.
Soriano said that Fruitvale merchants have been suffering from a lack of foot traffic since the pandemic and the AC Transit BRT line opened in 2020, and that most businesses have not fully recovered, while others have shuttered altogether.
Unlike Saavedra, who is buying less food for this year’s festival, Soriano said he plans to expand his menu to include carnitas, menudo, birria, more meat, vegan options, and some cheaper items for folks who can’t afford the typical festival food prices.
Gutierrez said that if the community wants to support, showing up at the festival is the way to do it, boosting not only the merchants’ businesses but the overall Oakland economy as well.
“Come out and show up with your pocketbook, and support every vendor and restaurant,” Gutierrez said. “We’re still going to support our community. We’re still going to honor our culture and uplift our traditions. Trump is not taking that away from us.”
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