By james art Reno celebrates Dia de los Muertos every year by holding many different events around the city to honor loved ones who have passed away.
People are excited to share their love for this tradition. Claudia Grady, credit union sponsor for the festival held on East Pueblo Street, explained why she chose to celebrate with the community,
“It is important for us and the immigrants to continue our traditions. And also, if you want to be bicultural and if other cultures join in, why not? It’s a beautiful meaning,” she said.
Another sponsor of the same event with Movement Mortgage, Veronica Rodriguez, explained why she feels this tradition should be celebrated with the Reno community.
“To bring a little home to those who are far away and then know that those who have left can still come back to us,” she said.
The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated especially in Mexico but also in other Latin countries where people honor their ancestors, friends, family and pets who are no longer with us.
A big part of this tradition is ofredna or an altar that is placed with pictures, marigolds, incense, salt, candles, sugar skulls, papel picado, food, including pan de muerto, and drinks, along with other personal items.
Autumn Novotny / Public Radio KUNR
Each item on the altar serves a unique purpose to help the spirits make the journey to visit.
Calendula or “flower of the dead” has a strong fragrance that draws souls back home and is often paired with incense.
The salt is arranged in a cross pattern to keep the soul intact and uncorrupted as they make the journey.
Papel Picado is a colorful cut tissue paper symbolizing the fragility of life and allowing souls to travel through the holes and visit them.
Pan de Muerto is a soft sweet bread dusted with sugar and designed in the shape of a skull for hungry souls to enjoy.
A glass of water is placed on the table to quench their thirst after the long journey.
The altar is a way to remember those who have died.
Osvaldo Jimenez, a teacher and someone the Hispanic and Latino student community looks up to at the University of Nevada Reno, talks about how he got started celebrating this holiday.
Osvaldo’s first experience with Dia de los Muertos was in his eighth grade Spanish class when they made an altar. This started an annual tradition. Every year since then, his family has created an altar in their home. He said over the years his family has collected many items to add to their altar.
“We also already have our parts, everything is in a box that we have in the garage. So we’re just rolling it out and we’ve got everything set up now,” he said.
That family tradition has carried over into his day-to-day work as director of Latino/Hispanic community relations for UNR. Where he now leads the effort to create altars.
Students placed their altars in the breezeway of the University’s Knowledge Center. They included candles, skulls, pictures of family members and pets, and dog food as an offering.
Autumn Novotny / Public Radio KUNR
Student Dianara Ortiz, who studies biology, brought a picture of her dog,
“Her name was Pistachio. I also brought treats, snacks and other things that we will add. And then I also did flowers and things like that for the table,” she said.
Ortiz creatively made tissue paper flowers to look like marigolds.
Celebrating Dia de los Muertos at the university, Jimenez said, is a lot more fun than the way his family celebrates. UNR has two mariachi bands, Aztec dancers and food vendors.
“We’re just more traditional in the sense that we honor our loved ones, we pray on that side,” Osvaldo said.
He said his family wears rosaries and prays a certain way throughout the day. Osvaldo’s favorite part of this holiday is seeing the community and all six of his siblings come together as a family.
“It’s like trying to move a desk, right? Everyone raises a corner and can then move it much more easily. It’s just beautiful to see the community come through,” he said.
He also likes the traditional food his family makes and all the vibrant colors.
But mostly, he sees this celebration as something of a time machine to bond with his grandparents and family.
“In a way, you feel more connected because maybe we have the altar. You see pictures every day,” he said.
UNR’s free Dia de los Muertos community event is Sunday, November 3rd from 2-5pm in the Joe Crowley Building.