Día de los Muertos won’t be the same in the pandemic. Here are safe ways to celebrate

The Spanish version of this article is available here.

As Día de los Muertos approaches, a Sacramento organization is stepping in to provide an alternative way to celebrate in the midst of the COVID-19 health crisis a holiday when relatives and friends would normally gather in close quarters.

Sol Collective launched a new digital platform that mimics the the altars families typically create for the holiday. The website, diadelosmuertosca.com/, invites anyone to share photos and memories of their family and friends.

The local arts and cultural center’s founder, Estella Sanchez, describes the project as a safe way during the coronavirus pandemic for Californians to honor the memory of deceased relatives or friends. The project will also highlight local celebrations and public displays in Sacramento.

“It’s something that we are always really excited to do every year, but due to COVID and we had to really pivot and think about how we could honor our loved ones who passed away during this time,” Sanchez said. “Especially as we’re dealing with so much loss, it’s really important to really lean on our tradition and on our culture to give us those tools to process that loss that we’re dealing with.”

The project is sponsored by Listos California, a campaign by the Office of Emergency Services that aims to reach the state’s vulnerable communities to educate them on earthquake, wildfire and pandemic preparedness.

Already, Californians are finding the space.

One post by California artist Jesus Barraza features a black and white photo of a young woman. The post reads, “To my grandmother, Mama Lupe...”

Another post is a portrait of a man smiling in a suit that reads: “Giving thanks and continued blessing to you Uncle.”

Multiple Día de los Muertos events and festivals across the state were canceled over the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, forcing organizers to think of new and creative ways to celebrate the holiday without putting the public at risk.

CDC holiday recommendations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a set of guidelines to safely observe the tradition.

“Many traditional activities can put you at higher risk for exposure to COVID-19,” according to the website. “There are several safer, alternative ways to celebrate Día de los Muertos. If you may have COVID-19 or you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you should not participate in in-person Día de los Muertos festivities.”

Low-risk activities, deemed safe alternatives by the CDC, include preparing traditional family recipes for relatives and neighbors, especially for those considered high risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and delivering them using no-contact methods, playing your loved one’s favorite music at home and joining a virtual celebration at home.

The CDC considers attending small outdoor parades while socially distancing more than six feet apart, hosting outdoor cook-outs with people outside your household and visiting graves while staying more than six feet away from non-household members as moderate risk activities.

High-risk activities the CDC suggests avoiding include attending large indoor gatherings and hosting large dinner parties with people outside of your household.

A digital ofrenda

The holiday, steeped in Mesoamerican culture and Catholic tradition, has been celebrated in Mexico and among Mexican Americans for generations.

It’s observed between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2. It is celebrated, as Sol Collective describes, to “welcome the souls of the departed loved ones, as it is believed that once every year those souls can visit the world of the living.”

The release of the 2017 Disney film “Coco” helped popularize the holiday among new generations of young Latinos.

Traditionally, “ofrendas” or altars are set up at home, churches or cemeteries in memory of a deceased loved one. The altars are often decorated with bright marigolds, hand-painted “calaveras” and “papel picado”. The center of the altar usually includes a photo of the deceased along with their favorite foods or belongings.

This year, Sanchez honored her late mother and grandmother by creating her own candle-lit alter at home and posted it to the website.

Next to her mother’s black and white photo is a bowl of oranges, which signifies the fruit her family would use to fill piñatas. Dried guajillo peppers next to a framed portrait of her grandmother represent the prominent ingredient used in family recipes like mole and menudo.

“We know that doing it digitally is not replacing what our long-standing traditions have been,” Sanchez said. “But we are looking for ways to continue to engage a younger generation about learning and going deeper into the understanding of Día de los Muertos.”

The digital ofrenda also honors Latino icons like civil rights activist, Cesar Chavez and Tejana pop star Selena Quintanilla. It recognizes celebrities who died unexpectedly in 2020 including “Glee” actor Naya Rivera and former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

“With so much darkness in 2020,” Karen Baker and Justin Knighten, co-chairs of Listos California, said they were honored to support the project to promote cultural awareness and healing.

This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Día de los Muertos won’t be the same in the pandemic. Here are safe ways to celebrate."