The event was open to the public and included live entertainment, a community ofrenda and vendors
By KATYA OKS — city@theaggie.org
On Saturday, Nov. 1, the Davis Chamber of Commerce hosted a celebration for Día de los Muertos at the G Street Plaza.
This is the second annual installment of the celebration, and included partners such as the Davis Phoenix Coalition, UC Davis Mexican Graduate Student Association and Ethnic Studies YOLO Academy.
Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a holiday that celebrates the reunion of the dead and living. The celebration is divided into three distinct parts: Midnight on Nov. 1 marks the “Día de los Angelitos” where the spirits of children are reunited with their families, midnight on Nov 2. marks the “Día de los Difuntos” where it shifts to celebrate and honor the lives of adults who have died and finally, noon on Nov. 2 celebrates all deceased loved ones.
The celebration also maintains many traditions. Families often create “ofrendas” — altars decorated with photos of the departed, their favorite foods and drinks and yellow marigolds — which are believed to encourage the spirits to visit.
For the second installment of the Día de Los Muertos celebration, the Davis Chamber of Commerce began with a community ofrenda that was available from noon to 7 p.m.
Live entertainment at the event included Woodland Folklorico, Mariachi Puente and the band La Vaquita Sonora.
Before live entertainment began, Carlos, one of the leaders of the UC Davis Mexican Graduate Association, discussed some historical background on the holiday.
“This is a celebration for thousands of years of pre-Hispanic culture,” Carlos said. “This [celebration] is not a sad day for us, it’s a day to party. We celebrate the [connection] between living and the dead. […] Our ancestors who left are coming back to see us.”
At the event, vendors set up booths at 4:30 p.m. These included local artists, organizations and event sponsors; Davis Phoenix Coalition, a group that advocates for marginalized communities in Davis — founded in response to an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime that occurred in 2013 — had their own booth at the event that discussed their mission and purpose.
Hyacinthe Raven, a fiber artist who creates needle-felted art, had a booth at the event as well. Raven noted her thoughts on the Día de los Muertos celebration and the importance of hosting such celebrations.
“This may not be my cultural background, but I still think this is an important celebration,” Raven said. “I think of [this time to] honor my ancestors that have passed, and, in particular, my pets that I’m really close with. I appreciate that this is a celebration day, and not like a mourning day. I think it’s super important to have these celebrations, one, be open to the public and not be like a closed-off event, but also be very publicized, and bring together a lot of different people together.”
Additionally, Raven shared how many community members can take advantage of such events.
“Events like this are a really good way to share different cultures and to foster community,” Raven said. “When you have a school like UC Davis, where there’s a lot of international students who might be in the country for the first time, these events are a really good way to share culture and make it collective; we’re all a community, and we’re all celebrating.”
For more information on future events, visit the profile of the Davis Chamber of Commerce Instagram.
Written By: Katya Oks — city@theaggie.org
