Day of the Dead festival at Gaston County art museum

GASTON COUNTY ART & HISTORY MUSEUM

Maria Elena Valcruz in full costume for Day of the Dead celebration.

The Gaston County Art & History Museum is celebrating a traditional Mexican ritual with a festival.

The museum will observe “The Day of the Dead” at the Dia de Los Muertos Festival Nov. 2 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. in front of the museum, located at 131 W. Main St. in Dallas. The free festival will take place outside the museum, and the street will be closed to through traffic.

“There will be artisans, local craft vendors, food trucks, a bounce house, a DJ, face painting, children’s activities, performances by the traditional dancers from St. Michael’s Cultural Outreach Ministry and by NC’s Queen of the Mariachi, Maria Elena Valdez,” museum programs and education manager Alexander Brooks said in a statement.

The Day of the Dead was celebrated in the rural and indigenous regions of Mexico but starting in the 1980s it spread into cities. In 2008, UNESCO added the festival to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. Recently, the tradition has developed further with its growth as a part of pop culture in the United States, where more than 36 million people identify as partial or full Mexican ancestry as of 2016, according to the Census Bureau.   
Although Day of the Dead is typically celebrated Nov. 1-2, immediately after Halloween, it differs in origin and intent.

On Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, it’s believed that the border between the spirit and living worlds is removed. During that interlude, the souls of the dead awaken and return to the living world to eat, drink, dance and play music with their loved ones. In turn, the living treat the dead as honored guests in their celebrations and leave the deceased’s favorite foods and other offerings at gravesites or on the ofrendas built in their homes.

“While the customs and scale of Day of the Dead celebrations continue to change, the heart of the holiday has remained the same over thousands of years,” Brooks said. “It is most importantly an occasion for remembering and celebrating those who have passed on from this life, while at the same time portraying death in a more positive light, as a natural part of the human experience.”

For festival information, call (704) 922-7681.

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