Lakes Entrance will have its first Day of the Dead festival at the Iceworks studio on November 9-10.
The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebration where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration.
It’s a blend of a Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture, the holiday celebrated each year in Mexico from October 31-November 2.
While October 31 is Halloween, November 1-2 is the Day of the Dead. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on November 2.
The first year of the Lakes festival will be modest, with hopes to improve the event into a significant event in the years to come.
This year will feature a couple of masterclasses, and some workshops (including for kids), and a couple of relevant movie screenings (Coco and Macario). While the main activity is to create an Ofrenda, where people can bring along an offering for a deceased person.
The Ofrenda is the heart of this celebration, filled with colourful and meaningful objects.
On the Day of the Dead, it’s believed the border between the spirit world and the real-world dissolves.
During this brief period, the souls of the dead awaken and return to the living world to feast, drink, dance and play music with their loved ones.
In turn, the living family members treat the deceased as honoured guests in their celebrations and leave the deceased’s favourite foods and other offerings at gravesites or at an Ofrenda built in their homes.
As part of the celebration, an Ofrenda is being built at Iceworks, with people encouraged to bring items in and partake in the Day of the Dead celebration.
Ofrendas are usually decorated with candles, bright marigolds and red cock’s combs alongside food like stacks of tortillas and fruit. With the most prominent symbols being skeletons and skulls.
During contemporary Day of the Dead festivities, people commonly wear skull masks and eat sugar candy moulded into the shape of skulls.
The event is being managed by local Mexican woman, Janis Torr, who is educating a large organising committee as they prepare for the initial festival.
“I’m hoping people will come along and join in the celebrations, everyone has someone in their life that they have lost, it’s a chance to honour those people, whilst learning about a Mexican tradition,” Torr said.
People are encouraged to bring photos of deceased loved one’s along to put on the Ofrendra table.
Saturday’s celebration will run from 12pm-7pm, while Sunday will go from 11.30-5pm.
