Day of the Dead
Ofrendas (Altars)
Cleveland Public Theatre
6205 Detroit Ave.
October 29, 2022

The Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos) celebration was put on by Dia de Muertos Ohio and Cleveland Public Theatre.

The Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos) is a holiday largely developed in Mexico, where it is mostly observed, but also in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. It normally takes place on All Saints Day and All Souls Day (November 1 and 2).

Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased. The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional pan de muerto with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as calaveras literarias.

In Cleveland, the Day of the Dead is celebrated with a cemetery of ofrendas (altars) on the Cleveland Public Theatre grounds.

In this video you will see some of the altars in this cemetery including an altar for Rock and Roll that features David Bowie, Tom Petty and Prince.

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Rock and Roll Ofrenda

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Tom Petty

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David Bowie

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