19th Annual Dia De Muertos Festival Returns to Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood in November

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT)/ Teatro Público de Cleveland (TPC), and Día de Muertos Ohio will present the 19th Annual Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) Festival in Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway neighborhood on Saturday, November 4th from 11am to 10pm, to take place at Cleveland Public Theatre, 6205 Detroit Avenue, in the Gordon Square Arts District. / Todos los eventos se llevarán acabo en: Cleveland Public Theatre – Church, Parish Hall, & surrounding area 6205 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44102.

A schedule of events is below/A continuación se muestra un calendario de eventos.

Parish Hall

12:00pm – 1:00pm,  Dueto Maravilla (Romantic Mexican popular songs)

1:00pm -  2:00pm,  Mi Quetzalenses (Marimba de Guatemala)

2:10pm -  2:40pm,   The Book of Life play – Garfield Heights H.S. Drama Club.

5:00pm -  5:30pm,   Danza Azteca Guadalupana

5:30pm -  6:30pm,    TBD

6:30pm -  8:00pm,   Rice & Beans Latin Jazz Band

8:00pm – 10:00pm,  Free Form Music

Church

1:00  pm – 2:00 pm,   Ricardo Morales Vivero (Guitar )

6:30  pm -  7:30 pm,   Ariel Clayton  (Violin)

Outdoors – Parade / Desfile (3:30 pm – 4:15 pm)

Grand Marshal / Gran Mariscal: Antonio Serna

Banner Leader / Bandera Líder: Olga Rosado / The fabulous group “Samba da Cidade” / El fabuloso grupo “Samba da Cidade”.

All parade participants are required to line-up at 2:30 pm / A todos los participantes en el desfile por favor de alinearse a las 2:30 pm.

Official Altars / Altares Oficiales

Robin Heinrich & Adam Carroll, Edna Fuentes-Casiano, Verónica Tomaschek, Tracy Doran, Terry Flores, Kole Robinson Brooks, Sheila Keller, María Froehlich, Deanne Conley, Lakeland Community College.

Cemetery Installation By / Instalaciones En El Cementerio Por:

Mark & Patty Jenks, Nina V. Huryn & Ted Olah, Ian Petroni, Mark Kmit, and Denajua Denajua (Costume Designer)

ABOUT “DAY OF THE DEAD”

Although its name may sound grim, the Día de los Muertos holiday has its origins in the Aztec rituals of Mexico and other indigenous tribes of Latin America. An internet search of “Día de los Muertos” will yield any number of links to websites explaining and promoting the holiday. But the primary elements of this celebration indicate that the special nature of the occasion is to honor one's ancestors and commemorate beloved ones who have passed. For the Aztecs and others with similar beliefs, honoring and calling upon the ancestors was integrated with harvest festivities, and gathering family to remember past family and friends with fondness and happy memories.

Traditional arts, flowers, food, music, dance, and fun are integral to the cultural mix, as are particular items specific to the holiday, such as the altars (ofrendas). Elements of the earth (salt), wind (cut paper decorations, papeles picados), fire (candles), and water are among the items included on some altars. However, the traditions and rituals are widely varied throughout Mexico, Latin America, Spain, and other countries. When the Spaniards conquered the New World, the indigenous holiday was commingled and integrated with the Catholic All Saints and All Souls Days.

The image of Catrina, the traditional “Lady of the Dead” goddess of the Aztecs, is a smiling skeleton. However gruesome or scary this or the idea of skulls is to Western culture, for the Aztecs skulls symbolized new life. Multiple colorful sculptures of candy skulls (calaveras) and skeletons (catrinas) are bursting with color and created with lighthearted and funny poses of the living. This deeply spiritual and yet exuberant celebration can often reflect more of an attitude about enjoying a higher level of consciousness and living life to the fullest.