On Saturday evening, the final day of the celebration of the Day of the Dead was marked with an exhibition at the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie.
The event, called an Ofrenda, or “offering” is a pivotal element of the Day of the Dead, which is widely observed in Mexico and other places as a joyful holiday celebration of Indigenous Mexican and ancient Aztec influences, and is renowned for its intricate details and symbolism.
The tradition involves family and friends gathering to pay their respects and to remember friends and family members who have died.
On the main stage upstairs, skilled dancers and singers played out the history of the Day of the Dead in Mexico through their performances, some coming from as far away as Jalisco, Mexico, for the show.
There was also a photo exhibit and artisanal market dedicated to the tradition.
The MacLaren Art Centre, located on Mulcaster Street, also hosted art stations where visitors young and old could create their own art as well as get their faces painted in the spirit of the celebration.
Denise Cervantes, one of the local organizers of the event, and also one of its performers, was quite pleased with how the celebration was received in Barrie.
“We thought we were going to sell maybe 30 tickets, which is OK,” she said on the day after the event.
Much to the group’s surprise, the ticketed main show ended up sold out with 140 people showing up to the venue.
“It wasn’t only Latinos,” Cervantes says about the crowd in attendance. “It was a lot of other cultural representation in the audience. It was nice to see so many different people.”
With this being their first year for the event, cobbling it together was a big effort, she says, by only a handful of dedicated people, and with funding coming from private sources.
“The Mexican House was helping out, and a small group of people contributed, not necessarily financially, but with their time,” adds Cervantes.
“As we kept going, the group got a little bigger, and now they want more.”
They hope to round up more help for next year’s event and make their Day of the Dead celebration an annual event for years to come.
“Collaborators for sure,” she says of the help they need. “We don’t want to make it where people have to (always) give their money, just more in the way the Mexican House helped in getting the venue, giving food, and feeding the artists, which is just one example.”
