On Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, Berkeley High School hosted a Día De Los Muertos festival in front of the community theater. The event was hosted by the RISE program, a Berkeley Unified School District organization dedicated to helping students from marginalized and low-income backgrounds in pursuing higher education.
Día De Los Muertos is a holiday that is mostly celebrated in Mexico on Nov. 1 and 2. The tradition originated in Mesoamerica with the Aztecs and other Nahua people, who saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life. Día De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead in English, also originates from a Catholic tradition, All Souls Day, which honors the spirits of those who have passed. Día De Los Muertos is a Mexican tradition where families come together to remember and commemorate their loved ones who have passed. They make candlelit altars with photos, favorite foods, and items of importance to the deceased. It is believed that the border between the dead and the living dissolves and the dead awaken and return to the living world to celebrate with their living relatives.
The RISE program director, Adriana Betti, has been running this event for the past nine years.
“This is a way to honor the dead and to celebrate what they have done. It started as an indigenous celebration, but we still continue it as of right now … It is important to remember your loved ones that have passed. They have done great things before us. It is important to celebrate what they have done because they got us to where we are. And they are the ones who worked hard so that we could live our lives,” Betti said.
This festival had multiple sponsors, which Betti appreciated. “A lot of people support what we do,” Betti said, “We have to get a lot of grants from organizations like the dentist and haircutters. There is also a ton of support from families. We get as many free things as possible because a lot of places support our organization and what we do.”
The Día De Los Muertos event was in between the C b\Building and the community theater, extending up to the cafeteria and all the way down to the G-H Building stairs. A mariachi band full of guitars, violins, trumpets, and singers played traditional songs, with wearing traditional white mariachi outfits. There was a lot of excitement in the air. Food stands sold agua frescas, tamales, and pupusas. The event also featured a lowrider car exhibit and many different vendors selling everything, even hand-knitted Baby Yoda’s to earrings. One could buy traditional clay pots or get a face paint of a skeleton. The event also offered free haircuts from Faded Lines and free flu shots.
The Día De Los Muertos event also had altars in the exhibition room, next to the entrance of the community theater. A traditional altar, or ofrenda, is typically put in someone’s home to honor their loved ones who have passed. One puts a picture of the loved one, salt, candles, papel picado, and favorite foods and items of loved ones on a table with a cloth on top. Sometimes there are also pathways made out of marigolds — which are considered the flower of the dead — leading up to the ofrenda. In the exhibition room at BHS, there were much smaller altars, with pictures of loved ones, marigolds, and papel picado lining the ceilings above.
Nicolás McCarthy, a BHS freshman who attended the celebration said,“I came because I feel like my culture is represented here, and it’s kind of cool to see all people similar to me. It makes me feel more comfortable.”