Celebrate Mexican and Irish Culture this Halloween with Galway’s Very Own Día de Muertos Parade
On Sunday November 1st, Galway will see an explosion of colour and culture throughout the city for it's very own Día de Muertos parade. We caught up with Ruth Gabriela Lorenzo Resendiz, a representative for the Mexican in Galway Community, to find out what it's all about.
“Día de Muertos is one of the ways we give that love a place to return to,” says Ruth. A traditional Mexican holiday that runs from October 31st to November 2nd, it's a time where deceased loved ones are celebrated through food, music and other unique details, personal to each family.
For many, November marks a time for families to “receive someone that they love” explains Ruth. “We remember what you liked, we remember who you were, and there is still a place for you here.” Many Mexican homes will set up an ofrenda – offerings set up on an altar at home – with photographs, candles, fruit and items that the late family member enjoyed in life.
This year, the Mexican community will honour the tradition with A Gathering of Souls – an event that first began with the aim of celebrating and combining Mexican and Irish culture through music, storytelling and tradition.
A free, community led procession, it will begin at William Street and will fill Galway’s streets with music and dancing. All are welcome and encouraged to dress up and participate in the vibrant parade.
For this year’s A Gathering of Souls event, the inspiration comes from Pátzcuaro in Michoacán, Mexico. “In Pátzcuaro and the Purépecha communities, the relationship between the living and the dead has been preserved for generations.”
“Our cultures are very different, but in the way we remember and honour our dead, there is also something that brings us surprisingly close.”
“In Pátzcuaro and the Purépecha communities, the relationship between the living and the dead has been preserved for generations,” Ruth says, and it is something to be “approached with respect.” This is not a “performance for visitors” – but a “living tradition,” and one that bears some resemblance to “deeply rooted Catholic traditions such as All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.”
A Gathering of Souls gives the Mexican community in Galway the opportunity to celebrate their connection to both home and Ireland through the traditions, stories, love and respect that is shared across both communities.
“I think there is something very special in the fact that, even with an ocean between Mexico and Ireland, we can still find each other through our traditions, our stories, and the love and respect we have for those who came before us. Our cultures are very different, but in the way we remember and honour our dead, there is also something that brings us surprisingly close.”
See A Gathering of Souls on Sunday, November 1st from 6pm at William Street.
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