Día de los Muertos Festival of Altars, a chance to honor your past loved ones

Día de los Muertos is a celebration to honor loved ones who have passed away with an altar that is decorated with photos, food and other tangible items.

“This is going to be currently our fifth year of Día de Muertos Festival of Altares or Day of the Dead, Festival of Altars,” said Xochiquetzalli, an organizer of the event. “So we began in 2019 and we saw the desire for the need for people to come and venerate their ancestors, their dead.”

This two-day tradition that lands every November 1 and 2, people celebrate and mourn past lives by setting up an altar. In the past during these events, people have left photos of dogs, their bowls of food and other items that are closely attached to those who they are remembering. The tradition is known to reunite the dead with the living.

“We have a food truck to provide food, but there’s not a lot of sales in this event,” Xochiquetzalli said. “We are trying to make it a ofrenda from our heart, an offering for our community. So it really takes a community to make this happen.”

The Día de los Muertos Festival of Altares event will take place on November 2 only at the Eureka Gazebo starting at 4 p.m.

“I think this is our gift to the community,” said Maria Ramirez, another organizer of the event. “At least for me, it fills my heart to see my son with other kids just playing Día de los Muertos, knowing that learning to live life, knowing the end is not a goodbye is just another part of existing.”

Again, this is a chance to remember those who have passed but also to learn about Día de los Muertos tradition. 

There are also two other events for Día de los Muertos occurring this week click here for the link to learn more about them. 

“This celebration, which is really about magic and ritual, it’s about venerating our dead, our ancestors asking them to come show up,” Xochiquetzalli said. “It’s believing in the other side.”