It’s October and El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is fast approaching! This is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a reunion that includes food, drink, and celebration. A blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion, and Spanish culture, this special holiday is celebrated each year from October 31st to November 2nd. According to tradition, at midnight on October 31, the lines between the living and dead are blurred and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on November 2. Even your pets can come back for a visit!
Not to be confused with Halloween, El Día de los Muertos is an ancient holiday dating back 3,000 years to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held rituals honoring their dead and family members provided food, water, and tools to aid the deceased. This inspired today’s tradition in which people build ‘ofrendas’ or altars honoring their loved ones at graves and/or within the home, made of their loved one’s favorite food, drink, pan de muerto, a special flower called “cempasuchil” to guide their loved ones on their journey, and many other items.
If you would like to help build a community ofrenda with us, please join us and the Latinx Technology Center at the Flint Institute of Arts (FIA) on November 1st from 5 pm-8 pm, with a performance from our mariachi and folklórico dancers at 7 pm. For updates on this event please see our EBFE Facebook page.
Latina League in 2018 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, making their own sugar skulls.
Ofrendas: Celebrating Día de Muertos installment at the Detroit Institute of Arts (2018).
Ofrendas: Celebrating Día de Muertos installment at the Detroit Institute of Arts (2018).