Viva Frida: 12th Annual Frida Festival in East End

Written by: Lauriston Brewster

The Houston Institute for Culture‘s (HIFC) East End Studio Gallery will kick off their 12th annual Frida Festival, where all are invited to celebrate the life and legacy of one of the art world’s most prolific artist, Frida Khalo de Rivera.

On Saturday April 22nd, starting at noon, there will be Frida-themed Loteria (Mexican bingo) at the Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservatory.

Then the following Friday, April 28th, come to the Esplanade on Navigation for the art market, featuring vendors from across Houston, as well as an art exhibition.

On April 29th, attendees are encouraged to come dressed up as Frida for the opportunity to participate in the lookalike contest. “We will have two different [lookalike] contests,” explained Lizbeth Ortiz, EESG’s Art Director and a local artist, “a children’s lookalike at 3 pm and the adults at 8 pm. The kids are just too cute and they win every time, we split them up to give the adults a chance too.”

Photo courtesy: Alex Barber, Houston Press

She explained the impetus of the inaugural Frida Fest:

“Our first collaborate event was in her honor to celebrate her birthday in 2005. We held a one day festival where more than 700 people attended the event in a warehouse without A/C in July and in Houston nonetheless. None of this factors deterred us or our patrons from celebrating and honoring Frida and we knew we wanted to continue doing this every year.

We’ve since moved it to April, it’s a little cooler. We’ve also outgrown our former space on Telephone Rd. and we’re happy to be hosting the vendor portion along with the Loteria game, look-alike contest and dance on the Esplanade.”

Ortiz stated that Frida Kahlo was an immense source of inspiration and incredible role model for her and other EESG founders. “We were discovering our creative side and celebrating our roots.”

EESG is a non-profit organization that seeks to bolster artistic expression and display various media from the community.  They collaborate with artists through art shows, workshops, gallery talks, studio spaces, creative networks and educational outreach programs. Click here to check out other fun upcoming events.