Day of the Dead coming to Gatineau

The City of Gatineau is marking fall in a unique way this year.

For the first time, the city has teamed up with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to celebrate the Day of the Dead, a cultural tradition celebrated mainly in Mexico at the end of October and in early November. It marks the one time of the year when deceased loved ones are believed to return briefly to the land of the living. 

Celebrations include ofrendas, or altars, made for family members and friends who have passed away, as well as colourful costumes and traditional meals. One such altar will be set up at Gatineau City Hall and will be open to the public. 

Gerardo Familiar teaches at UNAM, and is helping to organize the celebrations. The CBC's Christine Maki spoke to him about the tradition. 

Tell me about the Day of the Dead.

Day of the Dead is one of the most ancient celebrations that we have in Mexico. We can trace the roots of this celebration to pre-Columbian times. And what's interesting about this celebration is that when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico with a new language, a different religion ... this tradition was so present in Mexico that when the Spaniards saw this, they chose to adapt in order to make it an acceptable rite that could take part in the Roman Catholic celebrations.

Because it was that important that they needed to incorporate it or face trouble?

Absolutely.

What it is about?

What we see in Day of the Dead is communities coming together in order not to forget their dead. It has to do with family relationships, family links.... It's important not [only] to remember our dead, but also to make sure that when we are dead, when our time comes, there will be someone that will be able to remember us. That's why participation of children is so important.

Did you participate when you were growing up in Mexico?

I grew up celebrating both Halloween and Day of the Dead.

And what would you do? Who would you remember?

I would remember my grandparents and their parents. It makes more sense to remember the people you got to know. I have two girls that live here in Gatineau, they were born here in Canada, but my wife and I, we're both Mexican. And yesterday was the time when we had to prepare our ofrenda, our offering, and we included our grandparents, my wife's and my grandparents.... There are also a couple of brothers and sisters of our parents that have passed away in the last years, so we also included them. And the girls also decided to include their puppy, who died a couple of months ago.

So they would have photos of the puppy and relatives in one place?

You have photos and you usually add at least one object that they used to enjoy while being alive. What we did for our puppy, the girls decided to include a sock because that's what he enjoyed doing. He enjoyed stealing our socks and stuffing them in his mouth.

How did your daughters become interested?

The latest Disney[-Pixar] movie, Coco, had a lot to do with that as well. It really motivated the girls to get involved in the preparation of the Day of the Dead offering.

Tell me more about the events happening in Gatineau, that you're helping to organize with UNAM.

We've been here for 24 years now and every year, we prepare something indoors — we always prepare an offering for our dead. But this is the first time that we're doing it on a big scale and this is certainly the first time that we're collaborating with the City of Gatineau.

For more information on celebrations in Gatineau, visit the UNAM website. 

A Day of the Dead parade will also take place in Ottawa on Nov. 3, 2018, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event will include activities for kids and traditional Mexican food. The parade starts at the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne Park, 1525 Princess Patricia Way.