Name: Downtown Bangor Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead Community Celebration
Start: 2025-11-01T12:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-11-01T15:00:00-04:00
Location: Bangor Public Library

$Downtown Bangor Dia de los Muertos \/ Day of the Dead Community Celebration$

In partnership with Chispa – Centro Hispano de Maine, Downtown Bangor celebrates the Dia de lose Muretos, or Day of the Dead. The event begins at the Bangor Public Library with a presentation about the holiday and its cultural importance.
We will then create a variety of crafts associated with the holiday which will be used to decorate the community oferenda (altar). The afternoon will end with a walk to the oferenda, which will be decorated in a traditional way, and a small ceremony will honor the memory of the beloved departed.
*About Dia de los Muertos*
On the Day of the Dead, family and friends gather to remember those who have died, pay their respects, and celebrate their lives. Widely observed in Mexico and by those of Mexican descent, it includes a mix of pre-contact Indigenous and Spanish Christian practices.
This event is an opportunity for the community to gather, create and decorate an outdoor altar, and recognize and celebrate their beloved departed by sharing food and memories. After decorations are created, the altar will be decorated and candles lit, food will be shared, and the dead will be celebrated. Participants will be able to bring home some decorations to create an altar at home and the remaining items will be added to the "ofrenda" at Happy Endings Latin Music Night.
We’ll have a presentation on the celebration and its cultural importance, and then make a variety of beautiful crafts associated with the holiday, such as:
Cempazúchitl – marigold flower decorations
Papel picado – cut paper decorations
Monarch butterflies – connected to the spirits of beloved dead
Personal memorials – create a frame for a photo of a loved one to display on the altar and then take home.
Calaveras – sugar skulls decorated with frosting
*About “CHISPA” Centro Hispano*
The mission of “CHISPA” Centro Hispano is to facilitate and promote the socio-cultural values and education, uniting the Hispanic community in Maine and those that identify with it.