Day of the Dead November 2, 2006
San Francisco, California 94110
San Francisco Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) Procession and Outdoor Altar Exhibit
Thursday, November 2, 7:00pm, 24th & Bryant
This event starts on the CORNER of 24th and Bryant, outside the Galeria de la Raza. They are the closest community organization to the starting point of the procession.
Please join thousands of families, community members, neighbors, artists, activists, and youth at the corner of 24th & Bryant in the Mission District of San Francisco at 7:00pm on Thursday, November 2 for San Francisco’s annual Dia de los Muertos procession and public altar exhibit. The procession will end at the Festival of Altars in Garfield Park, located at 26th & Harrison. (Due to park renovations, the altars will be at the far end of the park this year, near 26th street, instead of their traditional spot at 25th and Harrison.)
Five local artists have been commissioned to build large community altars for the public display in Garfield Park. This year’s theme is “Connecting to Death in all Places”. Please bring ofrendas or offerings to place on our community altars: candles, photographs, bread, other foods, flowers, toys and other symbolic offerings for people that have passed away.
Día de los Muertos is a traditional Meso-American holiday dedicated to the ancestors; it honors both death and the cycle of life. In Mexico, neighbors gather in local graveyards to share food, music, and fun with their extended community, both living and departed. In San Francisco, Day of the Dead has been celebrated since the early 70s with art, music, performances and a walking procession. This event is Free.
Acoustic musician and performers of all kinds are welcome. If you would like to make an altar or need event information/interviews, please contact: 415 722 8911 or visit www.dayofthedeadsf.org.
###
The Marigold Project is an entirely volunteer-run collective. We coordinate and commission the five large scale altars in Garfield Park on November 2 and publish informational materials about San Francisco’s Day of the Dead celebration. We are sponsored in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission, The Mission Merchants Association, Reclaiming Collective and community artists and individuals.
Official Website: http://www.dayofthedeadsf.org
Added by siouxsie on October 17, 2006
Comments
fotogail
Yes! great memories.
bring a camera if you please, it's amazing, but please...
participate -- wear something for the event -- white face paint, a mask, a veil -- something to be part of the event and not just a gawker at it.
rule of thumb for parades and rituals: more magical if most are participants (some of them recording and observing) and fewer attend as if detached or cynical witnesses. i think somebody's said that more poetically and succinctly but i can't remember the quote!
vacapinta
I'd recommend everyone to read Octavio Paz's "The Labyrinth of Solitude" if they want to gain a deeper understanding not of the rituals of Dia de los Muertos but of its meaning and significance. A short excerpt:
"...Another factor is that death revenges us against life, strips it of all its vanities and pretensions and converts it into what it really is: a few neat bones and a dreadful grimace. In a closed world where everything is death, only death has value. But our affirmation is negative. Sugar-candy skulls, and tissue-paper skulls and skeletons strung with fireworks...our popular images always poke fun at life, affirming the nothingness and insignificance of human existence. We decorate our houses with death's heads, we eat bread in the shape of bones...we love the songs and stories in which Death laughs and cracks jokes, but all this boastful familiarity does not rid us of the question we all ask. What is death? We have not thought up a new answer."
Dia de los Muertos is influenced by La Danse Macabre. As such this photo of a ballet in El Paso Texas is among its truest interpretations:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hammink/282781995/
jennyrae
This says that the celebration is on Thursday Nov 2nd, but actually the 2nd falls on a Friday, so is it on Friday or Thursday?
iameastvillage
You're looking at last year's event. This one is tonight: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/268937/
Mai
i've been to this celebration twice (in 1999 and 2000), it's definitely worth stopping by near the end when they get to the altars in garfield park. remember to bring a candle and matches or a lighter.