Rowdy Parades Liven Up Day of Dead Events

The traditional Mexican celebration, El Dia de los Muertos, follows closely on the heels of Halloween and has some of the same ghoulish overtones, like skeletons, costumes and spooky masks.

But Javier Gomez, who for 13 years has worked to revive the Mexican holiday in Ventura County, quickly set the record straight about the two festivities.

“It has nothing to do with Halloween,” Gomez said. “It just happens that it falls close to Halloween.”

El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is more like Memorial Day, an occasion to remember departed loved ones. Despite its macabre overtones, it’s hardly a solemn, morbid affair.

The day is marked by boisterous, almost surreal processions with paraders dressed as skeletons, rattling noisemakers to wake the dead. Revelers make offerings to the dead on ornately decorated altars built for the occasion. Music, dancing and theater productions round out the festivities.

El Dia de los Muertos has its roots in two cultures--the ancient Indian customs of Latin America and the Spanish-Christian observance of All Saints Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls Day on Nov. 2. Tradition holds that the dead are released at that time to mingle with friends and family.

“Death touches us all,” said Gomez, an Oxnard teacher. “We need to remember our beloved.” But in Latin American and Mexican cultures, death isn’t viewed with sad finality. “We mock death, not fear it. Why look at it so seriously?”

Gomez, who is also artistic director of Oxnard’s Inlakech Teatro/Theatre Company, is helping coordinate festivities in Oxnard this weekend. Inlakech is one of the event sponsors, along with La Colonia Coalition Against Alcohol and Drugs and the Housing Authority’s Resident Initiatives Program.

In Oxnard, the free celebration begins at noon Saturday at Del Sol Park with music and crafts. Kids can learn how to make the traditional processional masks and rattles.

In the Mexican tradition, people write humorous epitaphs about family members, friends or politicians as part of the celebration. During the afternoon, these poetic “roasts” will target some notables on the national and local front, Gomez said.

At 5 p.m., costumed revelers will meet at the park for the start of the 6 p.m. procession. Weaving its way through La Colonia, the parade will include a few ghoulish floats, actors, dancers and anyone who wants to join in the 1.8-mile walk.

At 7 p.m. back at the park, two Aztec dance troupes will perform: the Pasadena-based Yankuititl and Nahui Ollin of Oxnard. Then, Inlakech Teatro/Theatre Company will stage a bilingual play about the holiday, “La Muerte Rides Again.”

Throughout the festivities, people can place mementos of loved ones on an altar built by artists and volunteers. The offerings run the gamut--fruit, photos, hats, canes, or even a pack of cigarettes.

The celebration helps the living deal with death, Gomez said. “It allows people to therapeutically connect with loved ones who have passed away.”

Oxnard’s celebration drew 800 to 900 people last year, Gomez said. A smaller effort in Ventura drew about 200, according to one of the organizers, Ventura Avenue artist Len Evans.

This year in Ventura the free festivities will take place at Ventura Avenue Plaza. On Saturday, beginning at noon, artists and other volunteers will build and decorate an altar.

By evening, it will be ready for the presentation of offerings and a vigil. Also starting at noon, kids and others can learn how to make the masks.

Financed with a $2,000 grant from the city, the celebration at the plaza resumes at 4:30 p.m. Sunday with the procession of skeletons and skull ornaments.

After the parade, the musical group Voces de America and the Aztec dance troupe Nahui Ollin will perform, and Inlakech Teatro/Theatre Company again will perform “La Muerte Rides Again.”

DETAILS

* WHAT: Traditional celebrations of El Dia de los Muertos.

* WHERE: Del Sol Park, 1500 Colonia Road, Oxnard. Information, 486-7063.

* WHEN: Saturday. Fiesta, noon to 8 p.m.; procession at 6 p.m., cultural presentation at 7 p.m.

* CALL: 486-7063

* WHERE: 572 N. Ventura Ave., Ventura.

* WHEN: Saturday, beginning at noon, building of the altar and mask making. Sunday, procession at 4:30 p.m., followed by music, dancing and theater presentation.

* CALL: 643-1182.