La Llorona Festival 2023 to kick off CHAC’s Hispanic Heritage Month & Dia de Los Muertos Recuerdos Season Celebrations

Chicano Humanities & Arts Council (CHAC) will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and their annual Dia de Los Muertos Recuerdos Season 2023, with a mesmerizing storytelling event- La Llorona Festival 2023  at Corky Gonzales Library (1498 Irving St., Denver, Co.)  on Sat. Oct.7^th   from 2- 4 pm with some of the state’s most celebrated cuenteros.

Learn the history as these story weavers recount the tales and legends surrounding the Weeping Woman-La Llorona. Host Charlene Garcia Simms will welcome featured tellers: Kristopher Garcia-Simms, Geraldina Lawson,  Sherry Coca Candelaria, Kimberly Sanchez & Karen Gonzales.

Kristopher Garcia-Simms is the author of Red Moon Night: An  Epistolary Telling of One Family’s Encounters with La Llorona. His tale recounts a father’s drive through rural New Mexico to visit his estranged daughter. When he encounters the spirit of La Llorona, he is charged with discovering her untold tale to prevent his daughter from inheriting the family curse of La Llorona. Kristopher Garcia-Simms is a Denver-based screenwriter and lover of all things horror, sci-fi and fantasy.

Sherry Coca Candelaria is famous for her re-enactment of La Llorona and her acting career at Su Teatro. In 1993 through “collective creation” Sherry joined  Roybal Sr., Debra Gallegos, Jose Mercado, Angela Manzanares and Robert Mares, and directors Tony  Garcia & Jose Guadalupe Saucedo to create one of Su Teatro’s most successful plays, La Carpa Aztlán Presents: I Don’t Speak English Only.

Geraldina “Jerry” Lawson is a Denver-based artist who was born in the border town of Laredo, Texas, where she grew up bilingually (Spanish and English) and bicultural (Mexican and American). During the 1980s, she began her journey in the Chicano arts by directing and producing Chicano teatro A recognized professional storyteller, she has performed “Cuentos de Lupe la Loca’’ locally and nationally and published a book of her cuentos/stories

Kimberly Sanchez is a 6th generation Coloradan.  Inspired by her passion for genealogy, she is honored to breathe life into the remarkable stories of her ancestors. In addition to her first novel, Love & Legacy: Amor Eterno, Kimberly is the author of many unpublished plays and poetry.  She acted in several plays, including the role of La Llorona for the play Llorona del Valle, which garnered nine standing ovations

Karen Gonzales is the author of the short story Finding the Lady Llorona, set  in the 60’s  along  Denver’s  West Colfax Neighborhood. Karen D. Gonzales is a native of Denver, Colorado and is a former Program Manager/Civil Rights Specialist with the Colorado Department of Transportation.  She is the Coordinator for Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club-Denver Network.  Karen was featured as Corn Mother at  History Colorado’s Corn Mothers 2022  exhibit.  She is a member of many writing organizations.

Free and open to the public —Family Friendly!