Back-to-basics Fla. Day of the Dead to return downtown
No skeletons will strut or mariachis march, but a bare-bones version of the Florida Day of the Dead celebration is coming to Fort Lauderdale.
Marking its 11th edition this year, the fete will return on Nov. 2 – a.k.a. Dia de Los Muertos – with what organizer Jim Hammond calls an “intimate” lineup of socially distant and virtual spookiness.
So how do you program a popular festival about the Mexican tradition of commemorating the dead, especially during a deadly pandemic? For Hammond, it was striking a balance between tongue-in-cheek fun and the “scary, mournful time we’re living in,” he says.
“We’re going with a completely different formula and none of it will be somber,” says Hammond, a Fort Lauderdale puppeteer whose festival typically draws 20,000 revelers. “Assembling big groups of people downtown just can’t happen this fall. There’s no fairy wand that can be waived to make COVID-19 go away.”
Instead of confining his festival to a single day, the Florida Day of the Dead celebration will expand to a full month of socially distant events, kicking off Oct. 4 with a monthlong ofrenda exhibit at History Fort Lauderdale.
Gone this year are large gatherings such as the festival’s Skeletal Processional, where mariachi bands, Mexican wrestlers, Frida Kahlo puppets and costumed festivalgoers joyfully strut along the
Thousands attended the 2019 Florida Day of the Dead Celebration in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
New River. In place of a procession, there will be a 6:30 p.m. Nov. 2 virtual music performance on Zoom featuring live bands, folklorico and Azteca dancers, plus a welcome ceremony from Fort Lauderdale city officials and Consul General of Mexico Jonathan Chait.
Hammond’s decision to stage a stripped-down Dia de Los Muertos comes as local festival programmers grapple with ways to recast their popular fall festivals for the social-distancing era. This week, for example, the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival signaled it would move forward with fewer theater screenings but more drive-in and “boatin” movies.
“I’m sad that we can’t come together because in the past 10 years, our celebration had built such a great sense of community and cultural sharing,” Hammond says.
But Fort Lauderdale will do its part to raise the dead. On Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, roving Day of the Dead characters will randomly pop up at downtown restaurants. Also that weekend, Hammond says there’s a good chance downtown folks may spot mariachi bands performing on flatbed trucks driving through Himmarshee Village.
“The idea is we want to bring enchantment back to Fort Lauderdale,” Hammond says. “Characters will wander around town,
wander into restaurants and bars. Some 12-foot-tall puppets will wave at you from the sidewalk.”
To that end, Hammond also is working with downtown restaurants to display ofrendas in their storefront windows. Businesses that want to participate should email Hammond at jim@puppetnetwork.net.
Backyard, the former name of America’s Backyard in the Revolution Live complex, will host a fivenight “Mexican Food Experience” Oct. 29-Nov. 2. Menus and food vendors are still being finalized but the dinners – with TBA live bands – will be reservation-only and capped at 100 people, Hammond says. (The venue holds 1,100.)
Meanwhile,
History
Fort
Lauderdale’s
annual ofrenda exhibit will be displayed Oct. 4-Nov. 2. Hammond says he will soon post an open call for ofrendas made by South Floridians who have lost loved ones to COVID-19.
On Oct. 19 at History Fort Lauderdale, Consul General of Mexico Jonathan Chait will talk about Day of the Dead’s importance in Mexico.
“This will be a quiet celebration, closer to our roots,” Hammond says. “We need reasons to feel optimistic right now, and that’s why Day of the Dead isn’t canceled. It’s too damn important, particularly now.”
Florida Day of the Dead will take place Oct. 4-Nov. 2 at multiple Fort Lauderdale venues. Go to FloridaDayoftheDead.com.