10/27/12 Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead Celebration @ National Museum of the American Indian

Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 1pm to 4pm (Museum hours: 10am-5pm)

National Museum of the American Indian

1 Bowling Green (Bowling Green/Whitehall St) 

Diker Pavilion and First Floor Lobby

Manhattan, NY 10004
(212) 514-3700

Cost: Free
For all ages

Though Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) isn't officially until November 1, you can commemorate the Mexican holiday early at the National Museum of the American Indian. This colorful, family-friendly celebration features live music and dance performances as well as hands-on workshops. Create special Day of the Dead crafts like vibrant papier-mâché calaveras (skulls), and make your own version of acalaca—a smiling, ornately decorated white skull mask usually worn to symbolize revival after death. Later, visit the altar de muertos, designed to honor deceased ancestors with ofrendas (offerings). This specific altar will be decorated with ceramic skulls, masses of marigold flowers and calaveritas de azúcar (sugar skulls), customarily eaten by friends and relatives. The event runs from 1 to 4pm in the Diker Pavilion and first-floor lobby of the museum. During the annual Day of the Dead celebration, some believe that souls of the deceased return to visit living relatives, and festivities like this help welcome them.

http://nmai.si.edu/calendar/?trumbaEmbed=date%3D20121026#/?i=1