Elkhart County Historical Museum to host third annual Dia de Los Muertos celebration
ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- The Elkhart County Historical Museum is hosting its third annual community ofrenda and Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, celebration. This gives people a chance to honor their loved ones who have passed away and experience the Mexican tradition.
Dia de Los Muertos is a time to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have passed away. Ofrendas, or altars, are an important part of the tradition, featuring photos and offerings for loved ones to enjoy when they return to visit. Right now, the museum has a community ofrenda on display where visitors can leave pictures of loved ones up during business hours before Sunday's gathering. Curator of education of Elkhart County Historical Museum, Jenifer Blouin Policeilli, says Sunday's event will have plenty in store for participants.
"We thought it would be really cool to introduce the broader Elkhart County community to this cultural heritage by inviting them to come leave offerings on the ofrenda to help them remember their deceased ones. And from there over the past two years this has grown into a huge celebration. It's our biggest event of the year. We have dancers coming in who do Mexican folkloric dance. The group is called Tierra Viva; we have mariachi who comes and plays live music with a group called Mariachi Echo. And we have scavenger hunts, we have crafts, we have food. Anything you would want in a party you'll find it here."
For community volunteer Silvia Sandoval, helping create the ofrenda is a way to preserve her culture. Even though Sandoval didn't grow up making ofrendas, she is extremely knowledgeable about them and hopes to pass the tradition on to her daughters and granddaughters who joined her as she showed what goes into creating an ofrenda.
"Everything that you see in the ofrenda means something," Sandoval says. "Like an example, you have the water, it means you are giving water to the people coming to visit us. You see the salt. The salt represents the earth. When you see the papel picado, like these, it represents the air, it shows that they're here. When you see the fire, the light showing that they're coming. And all the pictures are the people we love and we're inviting them to come. The butterflies show that they're coming from the mixed land. And everything that we see here is something that represents parents or brothers or sisters or grandparents or ancestors that just passed and they're coming to visit us."
Sandoval says the marigolds are there to light the way for spirits' return. And the importance of celebrating Day of the Dead is to celebrate the life of people, because only once you forget them are they truly gone.
The museum hopes this event introduces the community to their broader heritage, and that one day the entire gym is filled with ofrendas.
You can leave items on the community ofrenda during the museum's business hours ahead of the gathering on Sunday, which will be from 1 - 4 p.m. in the gym. The celebration of life will feature food, dancers, mariachi, and more.
The Elkhart County Historical Museum is located at 304 W Vistula St. in Bristol.