{"id":141278,"date":"2026-01-28T15:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T15:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141278\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T15:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T15:32:07","slug":"austins-willy-baltazar-is-a-man-of-many-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/141278\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin\u2019s Willy Baltazar Is a Man of Many Masks"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the back porch of his Southeast Austin home, Willy Baltazar displays a vibrant D\u00eda de los Muertos-style altar that honors more than just ancestors.<\/p>\n

Lined up are portraits of legends who have shaped Mexican culture and beyond: Vicente Fern\u00e1ndez, Paquita la del Barrio, Frida Kahlo, Bob Marley, and Michael Jackson. Each icon is paired with a matching hand-carved wooden mask laid nearby\u2014a living extension of Xantolo, a centuries-old spiritual festival from Veracruz\u2019s La Huasteca region in coastal Mexico.<\/p>\n

This pop culture mash-up serves as a bridge between his Austin life and the native custom that still defines him.<\/p>\n

Baltazar was raised in Tantoyuca, Veracruz, known as the Pearl of the Huastecas, an area famous for preserving Nahua heritage and a main keeper of Xantolo. The three-day sacred festivity\u2014with the liveliness of a carnival\u2014starts in late October and blends Huastec rituals with Catholic practices to honor the dead. During what\u2019s widely regarded as the region\u2019s own version of D\u00eda de los Muertos, every home sets up an altar adorned with cempas\u00fachil [marigold flowers], veladoras de santos [saint-etched candles], and ofrendas [food offerings]. The streets fill with the smell of incense and the sounds of\u00a0 string instruments. Dancers in ceremonial masks parade through Tantoyuca to guide lost loved ones back to the world of the living.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something you miss,\u201d Baltazar proudly recounts. \u201cIt completely transforms the town and runs through our blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baltazar vividly remembers cuadrillas [dancing troupes] parading in brightly colored costumes with masks looming large as they moved rhythmically through every neighborhood. He was always captivated by la embarazada [the pregnant woman], el diablo [the devil], and el vaquero [the cowboy]. The three symbolic figures represent the fundamental cycle of human existence: birth, mortality, and the enduring human spirit. Troupe members embody this essence while maintaining a vow of anonymity. \u201cYou must never know who is behind the mask,\u201d Baltazar warns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIT\u2019S A SACRIFICE, BUT THIS IS PART OF THE PRESERVATION.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the festival\u2019s close, the entire town makes its way to the cemetery, where dancers honor those who have performed before them and undergo the destape,a public unmasking that reveals their identity.<\/p>\n

Children are encouraged to join the cuadrillas as early as age 3. Baltazar dreamed of participating, or at least owning a mask, but the elaborate costume regalia was beyond what his family could afford. Instead, he watched from the sidelines and promised himself that one day he\u2019d be a part of it. When Baltazar moved to Texas more than 20 years ago, his priority shifted to starting a family and finding his footing in a city where he didn\u2019t yet speak the language.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Veracruz, rehearsals start as soon as the festival ends and continue year-round. Joining a cuadrilla comes with a seven-year cycle of mandatory dancing during Xantolo\u2014otherwise attracting bad luck. Unable to commit to that rhythm from afar, he returned each October as an observer. \u201cI felt like I was looking in from the outside,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

That outsider\u2019s view transformed in 2021. Determined to weave his Mexican customs with Austin\u2019s cultural scene, he placed his first order of masks with an artisan in Veracruz. The two figures were not conventional subjects: Freddie Mercury and John Lennon, his two musical icons and the ultimate bridge to his heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in the Live Musical Capital of the World,\u201d he explains, \u201cand this is how I connect my roots to life in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a><\/p>\n

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A mask can be made in a day, but high demand delayed the process for weeks. Baltazar drove 13 hours to his hometown to pick them up once they were ready\u2014a 700-mile journey that was a turning point in his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holding the finished creations, he realized he could keep expanding his collection beyond traditional designs. For a long time, he wasn\u2019t sure if they would become an exhibition, a personal display, or something else entirely. Regardless, he collected them. Since, he\u2019s picked them up in batches of five to 10\u2014now holding more than 70 pieces depicting Prince, Marilyn Monroe, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley.<\/p>\n

Between trips, Baltazar calls his car a \u201cmobile gallery.\u201d As a full-time Uber driver, he keeps a few masks displayed. \u201cIt always starts a conversation,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople get curious, and I tell them about Xantolo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Riders often take photos with the pieces, impressed by the lifelike detail, and have started requesting personalized ones of their loved ones who\u2019ve passed away. \u201cIt\u2019s like the tradition is adapting. Maybe they don\u2019t know much about Xantolo, but honoring our ancestors is universal,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The constant travel eventually led to investing in a dedicated van for his three to four annual trips. \u201cFlying out would be easier, but they\u2019re too fragile and I can\u2019t risk them getting damaged in cargo,\u201d he notes. \u201cIt\u2019s a sacrifice, but this is part of the preservation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Baltazar (Harmon Li for the Texas Observer)<\/p>\n

The woodwork behind his masks begins with master artisan Jes\u00fas Alejandres Ponce, who cultivates the trees, carves the figures, and hand-paints them. Ponce explains that carefully selecting pemuche wood is essential. \u201cThe quality shapes every facial gesture,\u201d he says. \u201cEach deliberate strike brings out the character\u2019s expression with the subtle tension of a frown or the gentle curve of a serene gaze.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ponce faces occasional skepticism from people outside the culture about the handmade nature of the art. \u201cSometimes people ask if these were made by a machine or mass-produced in a factory,\u201d he sighs, \u201cbut it\u2019s amazing they think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baltazar\u2019s most recent Xantolo trip carried a decisive purpose beyond picking up a new set of Willie Nelson and Lionel Richie masks. This time, the journey finalized a deal with Cuadrilla Reforma\u2014a massive troupe who travels across Mexico performing Xantolo\u2019s signature dances. Thirty-five members who already hold visas for the United States plan to come to Austin for the next Viva La Vida Festival, the city\u2019s largest D\u00eda de los Muertos parade, held a week before Xantolo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The performers intend to free-dance through downtown, a spontaneous cultural exchange separate from the parade. Baltazar plans to host as many members of the troupe as possible, making the property where he began his pop culture collection the home base for core performers. \u201cFor decades, it was only a distant fantasy,\u201d he says. \u201cNow, I am finally inside the circle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the back porch of his Southeast Austin home, Willy Baltazar displays a vibrant D\u00eda de los Muertos-style…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,3933,1468,59498,59499],"class_list":["post-141278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-dia-de-los-muertos","tag-mexico","tag-veracruz","tag-willy-baltazar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}