Día de Muertos event at E Street Plaza celebrates lost loved ones of the Davis community

The event featured a variety of musical performances and an altar for the general public

By: COLE TAYLOR — city@theaggie.org 

On Nov. 1, a celebration of Día de Muertos was hosted at E Street Plaza to celebrate and remember the lives of lost loved ones in the Davis community. The celebration was organized by Davis Phoenix Coalition and Davis Chamber of Commerce alongside other groups from across Yolo County.

The event featured vendors and ofrendas (altars) where families displayed pictures and ornaments of their passed loved ones to commemorate them. There was also a community altar where people could place a candle with the name of a lost friend or family member. 

Alongside the pictures, the altars were adorned in bright oranges and yellows with candles and flowers. Additionally, some ofrendas featured food offerings, like conchas, to welcome the spirits of the deceased. 

An ofrenda for transgender individuals who died by suicide or were killed because of their identity was also displayed. It was draped with a transgender pride flag and featured pictures of victims from across the United States, with the altar itself being a feature of Día de Muertos events in previous years. 

Joe Cinelli, a member of the Davis Phoenix Coalition who created the altar for this year, spoke on the importance of having an ofrenda dedicated to transgender individuals.

“The Phoenix Coalition advocates for the rights of all marginalized communities, and in particular those of us who are under attack from the current administration,” Cinelli said. “It's important that we remember our lost loved ones. As a member of the trans community, I had to do a lot of cutting out of pictures and coalescing that list. It was heartbreaking [...] It's important that we remember that we're losing our trans loved ones at horrible numbers.”

Nov. 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual international observance that commemorates people who died because of anti-transgender violence. Davis Phoenix Coalition will be holding a candlelight service on the day at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin, at 640 Hawthorne Lane.

The event also featured mariachi and folklorico performances involving all ages. There were tables for people to get calavera-style face paint to resemble the colorful sugar skulls associated with the celebration. 

Saul Estrada, a horticulture and agronomy alumnus and member of the Mexican Student Graduate Association, spoke on his experience with Día de Muertos.

I think it's just about always cherishing our loved ones even after they pass away,” Estrada said. “It's something that's tragic, but at the same time, you're celebrating the lives of people you loved before, and you never forget them. So I think it's just about keeping the memory alive of friends or family members who have passed away.”

Cielo Uscanga, a Ph.D. candidate in the Spanish department and also a member of the Mexican Student Graduate Association, spoke about the origins of Día de Muertos and the different days of remembrance. 

“It started after the harvest festival in the agricultural lands of the central cultures of Nahuatl and Mexica,” Uscanga said. “Syncretism [with Spain] began to start, so there was a need to expand it. The 28th is for those who haven’t been found, so a lot of people in politics or wars who have been killed. The 31st is for pregnancy losses, like miscarriages and the first of November is for the kids.”

Día de Muertos is primarily celebrated in Mexico, but similar traditions are observed within other Latin American countries. Guatemala and Honduras have their own renditions of the celebrations in early November, and have their own unique traditions, like a giant kite festival in Guatemala.

Gloria Partida, vice mayor of Davis and board member of Davis Phoenix Coalition, spoke about the need for community events for Latinos in Davis.

“Very often, when people are immigrants into a community, there's a lot of assimilation,” Partida said. “There's a lot of wanting to break with where you come from to try to fit in [...] When I came to Davis, there's not a big Latino population, and there was an even smaller one when I first came. There was always just a search for that connection here, and then a realization that the folks who are here are very isolated. That is what our nonprofit does: It tries to bring them into the community and into more of a mainstream.”

The event concluded with a music set performed by Bomba Fried Rice, a Davis-based band that fuses different styles of Latin music. With the night winding down, many paid their final respects to the people displayed on the altars.

Partida also spoke about the impact of remembering those before you. 

“Oftentimes you know there's a lot of celebrations in the community, but none of them reflect the folks who are on the margins,” Partida said. “So for Dia de Los Muertos, I find it to be very special because it does make you stop and reflect on where you've come from, [...] and think about all those people that have come before, and what their experiences might have been, and to think about how everyone has influenced you.”

Written By: Cole Taylor — city@theaggie.org