In an unexpected turn of events, Casa Tina in Dunedin was forced to cancel this year’s annual Dia de Los Muertos event. The restaurant took to social media to let the masses know not to get all dolled up and make the trip because there simply isn’t enough room for them all.
“You all have made our festival such an amazing success that it has grown larger than the park can accommodate!,” the restaurant wrote. “So we need to rent Main Street (for safety’s sake) adding significant overhead to an already expensive event.”
Now Casa Tina is full steam ahead and looking to gather sponsorship for 2020 all while finding a new venue large enough to accommodate the insane amount of people (more than 5,000) they hope to have next year. According to Casa Tina, the city of Dunedin has already agreed to a street closure every other year starting 2020.
Owner, Tina Avila told Tampa Bay Times that the significance of the festival, which has been running since 1992, is to “teach the public about the significance of the holiday as well as the history and culture of Mexico.” The restaurant invites locals instead to instead spend the day with them for “business as usual.”
Looks like you have more time to work on your Dia de Los Muertos costume until next year since 2020 could possibly Casa Tina’s biggest bash yet.
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This article appears in Oct 24-31, 2019.
