“For me, personally, Día de los Muertos is a day of remembrance of my past loved ones. I have many, many loved ones that I remember fondly and this is the day that we get to feel their presence come to visit,” Silvia Gomez, a Spanish bi-cultural bilingual resource specialist at East High School and an advisor for Raza United, tells Madison365.
“It’s an important day…. just a day of remembrance of our past loved ones,” she adds, “and how we never must forget them.”
Día de los Muertos — also known as Day of the Dead — will return to Madison East High School, 2222 E. Washington Ave., on Saturday, Nov. 11. It is a traditional Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration. Families create ofrendas (offerings) to honor their departed family members who have passed. Altars are decorated with bright yellow marigold flowers, photos of the departed, and the favorite foods and drinks of those being honored.
East High School’s Raza United and Ballet Folklorico de Maria Diaz will once again be the hosts for Saturday’s event. Gomez has been helping to organize the annual Día de los Muertos since it first started in 2015 along with María Díaz, founder of the Madison-based Ballet Folklorico de Maria Diaz.
The event returned to Madison East High last year after a three-year hiatus because of the pandemic.
“This year, we will have new dances. Maria [Diaz] always works on choreographies for new dances and they are wonderful. We will have some great singers, too. We will have food sales and face painting,” Gomez says.
“This year we’re gonna have a Lotteria fundraiser where people can pay $5 to get a lottery card and then we play lottery – which is like a Mexican version of bingo – and whoever wins gets a prize,” Gomez says. “So we have prizes donated by the mothers of the Ballet Folklorico … various baskets.”
Through the collaboration with Madison/Tepatitlán Sister Cities, the students of Madison East’s Raza United recently had an amazing opportunity to experience Día de los Muertos in México and learn firsthand the educational and cultural traditions of México while visiting Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco.
“The kids have been doing so many things in Mexico this past week and a half. It has really been quite the experience,” Gomez says.
“They gave us space to do an altar here … and it’s just beautiful. Our students have been able to witness and participate in Dia de los Muertos firsthand,” Gomez continues. “A lot of our students have never been part of something like this. In Wisconsin, you really don’t experience Dia de los Muertos like it is here in Mexico and we, including myself, are just having an amazing and inspiring experience. I’m going to bring some of these ideas back home.”
At Saturday’s 7th annual Día de los Muertos celebration at Madison East, Gomez and Raza United students are excited to carry on the many traditions they learned in Mexico here in Wisconsin. Half of the proceeds from the event will go to Raza United and half will go to Ballet Folklorico de Maria Diaz. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Buy tickets here.
“People can donate even if they can’t make the event,” Gomez says. “Hopefully, we will see a lot of people at the event. It’s a fun fundraiser.”
East High School’s Raza United and Ballet Folklorico de Maria Diaz will present the 7th annual Dia de los Muertos celebration on Saturday, Nov. 11, at East High School, 2222 E. Washington Ave. For more information, e-mail Silvia Gomez at [email protected].
