Cities from Camarillo to Santa Maria will present numerous activities during Día de los Muertos celebration to honor departed souls
Javier Gomez, left, addresses the crowd during the 2012 Día de Los Muertos Celebration. Amigos805 file photo.
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
About three decades ago most of the general public in the 805 region had not heard about Día de los Muertos. Even U.S.-born Latinos in the region had little understanding of this cultural tradition that dates back hundreds of years to pre-colonial Mexico.
“Many Chicanos were not aware of this particular celebration,” said Javier Gomez, founder of the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center in Oxnard. He was determined to change that.
So during the early 1980s, he began organizing Día de los Muertos activities for youth, including making papel picado, masks, sugar skulls and other workshops at the center. Soon the youth painted their faces in traditional muertos skeleton / calaca themes and began participating in community events including small processions in La Colonia neighborhood of Oxnard.
Fast-forward to 2015 and you can find Gomez preparing for the 8th annual Día de Los Muertos Celebration in Camarillo. The event drew about 5,000 people last year and has helped spark an interest in an annual celebration that has spread from the southern borders of Ventura County up through Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria.
Celebrants take part in the procession around the cemetery during the 2012 Día de los Muertos event held in 2012.. Amigos805 file photo.
“I’m so elated. That was our goal to plant that seed and hope someone would put some water on it and let it blossom,” he said. “It’s taking root. It’s now embraced in a lot of communities and you are seeing schools including it as part of the curriculum.”
For Gomez, a retired educator at Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard, preparations for the event include a series of Saturday workshops, which continue through Oct. 24 at the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center, 250 E. 5th St., Oxnard.
The session on Sept. 26 focused on papel picado and flower making. Upcoming sessions include “Mask Making and Tortilla Art” with maestro Socorro Gamboa on Oct. 3; “Mask Making and Sugar Skull Casting” with Javier Gomez, with a lecture by his wife, maestra Irene Gomez, on the “Significance of Sugar Skulls Design & Painting” on Oct. 10; “Muerto Necklace, Painting and Decorating” on Oct. 17 and “Altar / Ofrenda Design and Construction,” with a special lecture by indigenous elder-maestra Luzma Espinoza on the “Spiritual meaning of Día de los Muertos” on Oct. 24. Gomez also hopes to reschedule a lecture by indigenous elder-maestro Benjamin Aparicio on the “History and Origin of Día de los Muertos” during coming weekend.
Javier Gomez, left, puts the final touches on a mask during a 2005 workshop. Amigos805 file photo.
All the workshops lead up to the 2015 Día de Los Muertos Celebration from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 at Conejo Mountain Funeral Home, Memorial Park and Crematory in Camarillo.
The event will feature a vintage lowrider car show, a Mr. and Mrs. Calaca pageant, a Norteno musical group from Oxnard, a rock ‘n’ español banda group, 805 Caliente, Alma de México folklorico dancers, Xavier ‘Big X’ Montes and his Angels on Harps performance group, Mariachi de Camarillo, all led off with mariachi and folklorico performers from Inlakech, Gomez said.
The celebration will also include a variety of food trucks, arts and crafts vendors, a muertos-themed art exhibit in the main lobby of cemetery’s offices, face painting, free prizes and altars created by members of local clubs from various Mexican states along an altar by the Mixteco / Indigena Community Organizing Project.
The event will be held a week after the traditional Día de los Muertos celebration to put some distance between it and Halloween and to avoid conflicts with other local muertos events.
“We want people to have a chance to go to those events (on Nov. 1) and then come to ours,” he said.
Gomez said the celebration, which includes a traditional procession around the cemetery, has led to many positive changes. Families at the event are now encouraged to decorate the graves of their loved ones in the colorful style of Mexico, with candles and marigolds.
“We had people come up to us in person and say thank you,” Gomez said. “One man thanked me and my wife for putting on the event. He said ‘I was so sick the past year but now I can accept my death with a positive feeling.’ ”
The Nov. 7 celebration will be bittersweet for Gomez, who is retiring this year as the organizer.
As he states in his flyer, “Mi Ultima Parranda — My Last Hurrah.”
“I have to give my time to my wife,” said Gomez, who will continue leading the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center. “I’m passing the reins on to someone else.”
Call 805-890-2193 or visit https://www.facebook.com/DiaDeLosMuertosVentura for more information on the 2015 Día de Los Muertos Celebration.
Día de los Muertos in the 805 region
It is a time for Hispanic families to prepare their altars, collect the photos of the dearly departed, make sugar skulls, create some of their loved one’s favorite food and drinks and then light the candles in preparation for the departed soul’s arrival on Nov. 1. Each year a growing number of Día de los Muertos celebrations are coming alive throughout the nation, the state and in the 805 region. Here are highlights of some of the local events.
Carpinteria
• The Carpinteria Library will present “La Catrina,” a Día de los Muertos celebration, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17 at 5141 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria. Visit http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/lib/locations/carpinteria.asp or call 805-564-5608 for more information.
Nipomo
• The DANA Cultural Center’s Dana Adobe Nipomo Amigos will present its annual Día de los Muertos celebration starting at noon Sunday, Nov. 1 at the Rancho Nipomo Dana Adobe, 671 S. Oakglen Ave., Nipomo. Free. Call 805-929-5679 or visit http://www.danaadobe.org/event/dia-de-los-muertos/?event_date=2015-11-01 for more information.
Oxnard
• The Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard will present its annual Día de los Muertos program as part of its Family Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 at 424 S. C St., Oxnard. The event includes decorating sugar skulls, nichos (decorating altar boxes), pan de muerto, a photo booth with Day of the Dead props and costumes and thematic face painting.
The event is free, with no reservations required. Visit http://www.carnegieam.org/free-family-day1.html for more information.
Santa Barbara
• The Santa Barbara Museum of Art will present its 26th annual Free Family Day — Día de los Muertos program from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1130 State St., Santa Barbara. Activities will be held in the museum’s back plaza, State Street terrace, Family Resource Center and galleries. The event includes altar displays, art activities, live music, dance performances, an interactive altar installation by Los Angeles-based Art Division and companion activity designed by the museum’s Teen Internship Program, along with traditional Mexican refreshments. Admission to the family event and to the museum is free, museum officials reported in a media release.
Participants in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Free Family Day — Día de los Muertos. Courtesy photo
Inspired by the Día de los Muertos traditions and works of art currently on view in the museum galleries, the event’s art activities include mini-altars, using details of images from the “Looking In, Looking Out: Latin American Photography” exhibit, skeleton landscape postcards and paper flower still-lifes and traditional festival skull charms.
In the Family Resource Center, the public is invited to remember friends and family by adding to the community altar and to view a special installation by artists from Art Division Youth Arts Program, a professional training program for underserved young adults who show genuine commitment and passion for the visual arts. Conjunto Jardin, Mariachi Sol Huasteco and Folkloric Dance Group Quetzalcoatl return with musical and dance performances throughout the day.
The Day of the Dead is traditionally celebrated by creating altars or “ofrendas” (offerings) that include portraits, personal goods, clothing, favorite foods, and possessions of the deceased family member. This is an important social ritual that symbolizes the cycle of life and death that is human existence. SBMA’s display of altars is created by various partner schools and community organizations including La Cuesta Continuation High School, Santa Barbara Public Library Eastside Branch, Montecito Union School, the Carpinteria Library Homework Center and Marymount School of Santa Barbara; students enrolled in the Museum’s after-school outreach programs, including Homework/Artwork After-School; Art After School in collaboration with the Police Activities League, and A-OK After School Education and Safety Programs at Santa Barbara Community Academy; and Brandon Elementary, El Camino Elementary, and Aliso Elementary, recipients of the Museum’s in-classroom outreach program ArtReach. Each group has incorporated traditional symbols and iconography to offer thanks to departed family, friends, or artists in the museum’s collection.
Limited edition t-shirts and tote bags with original, stenciled designs created by La Cuesta Continuation High School student artists are also on sale as part of the celebration. The sale proceeds go toward the La Cuesta Art Scholarship, which will be awarded to a graduating senior at the 2016 commencement. Visit http://www.sbma.net/programs/kidsfamily.web for more information.
• KCRW presents “Día de los Muertos Celebration” featuring Kinky, Bomba Estéreo, La Santa Cecilia, Chicano Batman, Conjunto Zacamandu, DJ Carlos Niño, Danza Azteca, Chinelo Dancers and Ballet Folklorico at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30 at the Santa Barbara Bowl, 1122 N. Milpas St., Santa Barbara. Tickets are $35 to $50. Visit https://sbbowl.com/concerts/detail/2015_10_30_dia_de_los_muertos_celebration for more information.
• Casa Dolores — Center for the Study of the Popular Arts of Mexico, will present an altar featuring El Catrin y La Catrina, created by the Linares family, from Oct. 31 through Nov. 14 at 1023 Bath Street (between Carrillo & Figueroa). Call 805-963-1032, send an email to info@casadolores.org or visit http://www.casadolores.org for more information.
San Luis Obispo
• The “Dia de Los Muertos / Day of the Dead” Celebration and Procession will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1 at the Downtown San Luis Obispo’s Farmers’ Market. Presented by Wilshire Health & Community Services. The free community festival includes dancers, musicians, poets and artists. Visit http://downtownslo.com/event/el-dia-de-los-muertos/ or http://www.wilshirehcs.org, send an email to info@wilshirehcs.org or call 805-782-8600 for more information.
Santa Maria
• The Día de los Muertos Cultural Celebration will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1 at the Veterans’ Memorial Community Center, 313 W. Tunnell St., Santa Maria. A free family festival filled with cultural activities that honors the lives of loved ones in the tradition of Dia de los Muertos. Festivities will include altars, entertainment, a children’s parade, youth activities, an art show, food, inflatables and crafts. Visit cityofsantamaria.org or http://www.seecalifornia.com/events/day-of-the-dead.html for more information.
Editor’s Note: As of press time we were still waiting to hear about planned Día de los Muertos events at Heritage Square in downtown Oxnard, “Night of the Living, Day of the Dead” at the Museum of Ventura County, Día de los Harleys in Camarillo, the Mexican-American Scholarship Cultural and Recreation Association’s (MASCARA) Día de los Muertos celebration in Santa Maria and other events.
Missing your Día de Los Muertos event?
Please send information to frank@amigos805.com
No, Día de Los Muertos / Day of the Dead is not México’s version of Halloween
While occurring at just about the same time, Día de los Muertos traditions include celebrating the souls of ancestors to encourage them to visit the living. Candles are lit for each family member who has passed. Papel picado banners and sacred copal incense herald the celebration. Golden marigold flowers symbolize the brevity of life and lend a scented pathway to returning spirits. Calaveras (sugar skulls) tempt appetites to return. Día de los Muertos traditionally takes place during the Catholic holidays of All Saints Day on Nov. 1, a day to also remember deceased children; and All Souls Day on Nov. 2, a time to remember the adults.
In Mexico, bread and water are also placed outside homes for those spirits with no survivors on Oct. 27, with food and drink placed outside on Oct. 28 for those who died by accident or other violent misadventure.
Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, is said to originate from the pagan Celtic Samhain festival, a harvest festival that heralds the end of summer. It is traditionally a time of trick-or -treating and costumes.