No matter where we come from or what we look like, a lot of us honor family members who have passed on. We celebrate the legacy they have created in us. For many Latino Minnesotans, Día de los Muertos is a holiday to gather and remember loved ones.
This year, Valley Outreach’s annual fundraiser falls on Día de los Muertos, November 1, 2024. To show appreciation for Latino community members, we are incorporating traditional elements of Día de los Muertos and Latin American culture into this year’s Vibrant event. You’ll see those elements reflected in the program, food, music, the Libation Station and even the Dessert Dash.
Read on to learn more about Latino Minnesotans and Día de los Muertos before the event!
Learn More about Día de los Muertos & Latino Minnesotans
Here are some helpful links we recommend:
Latino Minnesotans
Minnesotanos: Latino Journeys in Minnesota – Latinos are a productive and essential part of Minnesota, first coming to the state in the early 1900s. The Minnesota Historical Society’s MNopedia offers a brief history of Latino Minnesotans’ contributions and ongoing efforts to overcome discrimination over the years.
CLUES – Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (which translates to Latino Communities United in Service) – CLUES began to organize in 1977 and by 1981 they hired an initial staff of four employees committed to bilingual and bicultural service delivery to Latino clients. In 2019, Valley Outreach was honored to be invited to help CLUES to set up their food distribution programs. We offered technical support about the logistics of setting up a food distribution and we learned a lot about the importance of culturally relevant food (short PBS video). We are happy to see how their successful food program has grown.
Día de los Muertos
What is Dia de los Muertos? An expert explains the holiday celebrating loved ones who have died. (Video) – Watch this short video from PBS News Hour to learn about the history, nuance and joy of this holiday. We should not confuse it with the uniquely American holiday of Halloween.
Festival Calaveras – 12th Annual Festival de las Calaveras Twin Cities Latinx Music + Arts Festival – Oct.19 – Nov. 2 – Want a deeper Día de los Muertos experience in the Twin Cities? Check out Festival Calaveras. From their website, “The festival intends to promote the celebration of Day of the Dead within the Latinx community, embracing diverse intergenerational, educational, economic, cultural, and gender identities, further, considering that many may not practice the same tradition of ancestral remembrance, yet are invited to appreciate similarities rather than cultural differences as original peoples of the Americas. The festival also extends the opportunity to members of other cultural communities and allies to celebrate the remembrance of their own ancestors through Latinx artistic expression and the Day of the Dead tradition.”
Help Us Create a Welcoming Place for All
Valley Outreach welcomes everyone who comes to us in need of help. (Everyone means regardless of race, beliefs, age, ability, zip code, and gender.) To fulfill this mission, Valley Outreach must create a supportive space for Spanish speakers and new Minnesotans. A great way to aid this effort is to attend Vibrant: A Valley Outreach Event! You can buy your tickets today. If you’d like to start a table with your friends, contact [email protected]. She can help.
We create a vibrant community where everyone’s needs are met we we work together.
Read all the Valley Outreach Be Curious posts here.
