The Pasadena Tournament of Roses announced the winners of its fifth annual Día de los Muertos art competition over the weekend.

This year’s event saw more than 1,000 student participants from across the region, who highlighted the traditions of Día de los Muertos through various art forms, from drawing, face painting, to poetry and sculpture.

Winners were selected from three age categories—4-8, 9-13 and 14-18— and received cash prizes and gift cards in recognition of their work.

The first-place winners are: Brishti Biswas (4-8); Camila Chikitina Mondragon-Acevedo (9-13); Michelle Anay Garcia (14-18). The competition also recognized several more finalists and honorable mentions, whose art are showcased online at: https://tournamentofroses.com/diadelosmuertos/

The art competition was born during the first year of the pandemic as a way to engage the Tournament Association’s volunteers and the community.

The idea was to bring together the Tournament of Roses’ historical pageantry of roses and civic engagement, with a 3,000-year-old Mexican tradition that celebrates life with marigold flowers and artistic representations of generations.

Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is an annual two-day holiday celebrated primarily in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage around the world. Typically held on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, the holiday is a celebration of life, death and remembrance. During these two days, it is believed that the spirit world and the real world briefly unite, allowing families to honor and reconnect with loved ones through vibrant celebrations and meaningful rituals.

“When it comes to traditions, festivities and flowers — we get the appeal,” Tournament officials said in a press release announcing the winners. “As an organization that’s all about a rose, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses can appreciate that the marigold holds such a prestigious place in this celebration.”

The event was put together in partnership with the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Athens Services, Ed and Delia Corey, Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary and Wife of the Party.