Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Future and Bridging Our Communities
Free, at West Ridge Center (Note new location)
Join us for a day of dance, music, loteria, art projects, and face painting. We recommend bringing a blanket or chair to sit on to enjoy the entertainment. Delicious food will be available for purchase.
We will have a community ofrenda/altar. If you wish to have a picture on our altar, please contact Jessica Reyes at [email protected], or bring your picture to the event.
Things You Should Know About the Día de los Muertos Celebration
1. El Día de los Muertos is not, as is commonly thought, a Mexican version of Halloween although the holidays do share traditions, including wearing costumes and marching in parades.
2. Calaveras, or skulls, are a unique symbol of Día de los Muertos. Elaborately decorated ceramic and papier-mâché skulls are worn throughout the festivities. Sugar skulls that are decorated with colored icing, (and often feathers and foil) are placed on offrendas. Simple sugar skulls, with just icing, are eaten and enjoyed by children of all ages. The famous La Calavera Cantina (the Elegant Skull) was created as a political statement by Mexican printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada in 1910. Her fancy dress and hat, along with her white makeup, have been an integral part of the holiday ever since.
3. The ofrenda has always been an important part of the celebration, and today the alter is perhaps the most recognized symbol of Día de los Muertos. It is a way for families to honor their loved ones and provide them what they need on their journey from the spirit world. An ofrenda must include the four elements: Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. Bread is used to represent Earth. Wind is represented by traditional paper banners, called Papel picado. Candles light the way and can be placed in the form of a cross, which indicates the cardinal directions. Water is often presented in a pitcher, so the spirits can quench their thirst.
4. Monarch butterflies play a unique role in celebrations of Día de los Muertosbecause they hold the spirits of the departed. This lovely thought is tied to the arrival of the first monarchs in Mexico each fall, at the start of the holiday on Nov. 1.
Read more about Día de los Muertos.
