Día de los Muertos
Community invited to help construct traditional ofrenda
Holyoke Community College will celebrate Diá de los Muertos, the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, on Thursday, Oct. 30, beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the college Campus Center.
The college’s El Centro program and LEA Club (Latinx Empowerment Association) are inviting members of the HCC and surrounding community to take part in the construction of an ofrenda on the second floor of the Campus Center outside room 248.
An ofrenda is a kind of altar designed as a place to celebrate indigenous, Mexican, and Latinx traditions. People are invited to bring pictures of their loved ones and any offerings they'd like to include on the community ofrenda.
Raúl Gutiérrez, HCC professor of Latinx Studies and Spanish, chair of HCC’s Language and Latinx Studies department, co-advisor to the LEA club, and a native of Mexico, will give a brief talk about the significance of the holiday.
Guests and participants will also be able to enjoy pan de muerto, bread traditionally baked in Mexico during the weeks leading up to Diá de los Muertos, and hot chocolate.
HCC celebrated Diá de los Muertos for the first time in November 2022.
“This is an opportunity for us at HCC to come together in celebration of a beautiful and unique Mexican cultural tradition with universal notes of love, grief, and gratitude for those who we’ve loved and lost,” said Julissa Colón, director of El Centro, HCC’s bilingual student support program.
PHOTO: HCC Spanish Professor Raúl Gutiérrez, a native of Mexico, talks about the tradition of Día de los Muertos in front of the HCC ofrenda in 2024.