Business & Tech

¿Qué es el Día de los Muertos?

The Zombie Pub Crawl isn't the only day of the dead in Minneapolis this year.

Today may be the Zombie Pub Crawl in Minneapolis, but local businesses are getting into the spirit of another kind of day of the dead.

Lynnhurst's Zinnia Folk Arts and Kingfield's Colorwheel Gallery and Cafe Ena are both hosting celebrations of el Día de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday spanning Nov. 1 and 2, where families gather to honor and celebrated dead relatives and friends.

Most people are probably familiar with the imagery of Día de los Muertos, but how many know what's really going on with those sugar skull ofrendas and chains of marigolds? Zinnia Folk Arts' Anne Damon is ready to explain it all. At 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, and Friday, Oct. 26, Damon is offering a special, candle-lit illustrated talk on just what the whole shebang is about.

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"The folk art created during this period is full of skeletons doing every activity conceivable," Damon told Patch in an email. "Clay, wood, paper maché, sugar, tin, metal, glitter—every medium is used to create folk art representing death not as something to be feared, but as a way to remember loved ones who have moved on to another world, every year returning in spirit, on the Dias de los Muertos."

In addition, Damon said she will be featuring a variety of Day of the Dead catrinas and catrins, skeletons made of clay, sugar skulls, and other beautiful hand made folk art in her store this month.

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At the Colorwheel Gallery, owner Tammy Ortegon is planning a full-blown Day of the Dead celebration on Nov. 4 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., replete with sweet treats and folk-art making. Ortegon will supply materials for both adults and kids to enjoy making masks and collage art. Cafe Ena next door is also reportedly cooking up their own Día de los Muertos celebration, with dinner specials, tarot card readers, servers with painted 'sugar skull' faces, a beautiful ofrenda & other surprises.


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