For the past five years, Community Engagement has been a premier sponsor of the first free literary arts and culture festival in Orange County. Boca de Oro, which translates to “mouth of gold,” takes place in Santa Ana, California. The annual festival curates diverse and evocative writers, poets, storytellers, and artists who present their work through literary readings, workshops, panel discussions, poetry slams, spoken word styles, and myriad visual and performing arts experiences.

Attracting between 7,000 to 10,000 participants each year, the festival is an all-day event that ends in Santa Ana's First Saturday Art Walk. Boca de Oro is a collaborative design project, partnering Community Engagement with the Santa Ana Business Council, Santa Ana Unified School District, Santa Ana College, and the City of Santa Ana to foster literacy in all of the arts. It occurs each year in the first week of March and brings over 100 authors and 3,000 visual and performing artists who participate in dozens of events in locations throughout the community.

In 2021, Boca de Oro pivoted with the COVID-19 pandemic and went virtual. The three-day digital festival was a huge success, offering compelling content and serving as a central space for the community to share collective arts and culture experiences. A popular new addition to Boca de Oro this year was the launch of neighborhood “Lending Libraries,” small cabinets of children’s books that can be taken and kept, or returned, for free.

Boca de Oro 2021 Highlights

Boca de Oro Photo Gallery