Petaluma’s Dia de los Muertos parade draws thousands

It’s one of several observances throughout Sonoma County.|

COUNTYWIDE DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EVENTS:

SONOMA, NOV. 1SONOMA, NOV. 1WINDSOR, NOV. 1HEALDSBURG, NOV. 1-2SANTA ROSA, NOV. 1-2

Seasonal crafts: Día de Los Muertos provides face painting, sugar-skull decorating and tissue-paper crafts from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Mission San Francisco Solano, 114 E. Spain St. $3, $2 ages 6-17, free 5 and under. Entry includes special altar display in the mission chapel and same-day admission 10 a.m.-5 p.m. to Sonoma Barracks, Toscano Hotel and General Vallejo's home. 938-9560. parks.ca.gov.

Bring photos of loved ones to the free public Dia de los Muertos celebration 6-8 p.m. Saturday in the Maloney Family Garden at the Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., and leave them on the 12-foot altar celebrating the lives of 75 Sonoma Valley people. 938-4626. sonomacommunitycenter.org.

Party and procession: La Fiesta para los Muertos features calavera face painting, Latin American food and refreshments, Aztec dancers, Windsor Bloco drum and dance, giant stick puppets and a candlelight procession from sunset to 10 p.m. Saturday on the Town Green, McClelland Drive and Market Street. Free. 217-1325. windsormuertos.org.

Honoring ancestors: The annual “El Día de los Muertos” presents altars, ceramics and visual artwork from Healdsburg High School's MAYO Club and includes bilingual audio tours 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Healdsburg Museum, 221 Matheson St. Free. The exhibit runs through Nov. 9; the museum is open Wednesday-Sunday. healdsburgmuseum.org.

Remembering loved ones: Observe Día de los Muertos, the traditional Mexican holiday to commemorate loved ones who have died, Saturday and Sunday in Old Courthouse Square. Free. All ages welcome; no alcohol permitted. santarosadiadelosmuertos.org.

October in Petaluma has become more than a fun fest filled with ghosts, ghouls and zombies via costumes and candy.

Since its inception in 2000, the city’s Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, festivities have grown annually from a small, one-week event to a month-long celebration that draws participants from throughout the North Coast in a collaboration between Latino and Anglo communities.

After four weeks of activities leading up to it, the final event is a Saturday evening procession. It is expected to begin with 1,500 marchers and attract another 1,500 as it moves through town, organizer Abraham Solar said. Mariachis and giant puppets make it hard to ignore the parade as it works it way from Water Street Bistro to the Mail Depot.

Solar said he has no idea why this procession has become Sonoma County’s biggest; it was the county’s first and clearly met a need.

“It’s an opportunity to heal the pain we feel when the loved one departs from life, a pain common to everyone,” he said. “This allows people to honor their loved one and celebrate their life.

“It’s a time to put away the sadness and celebrate the legacy of someone close to your heart, who shared his ?or her life with you, and you can ?share that with the rest of the community.”

El Día de los Muertos is a joyous time filled with song and dance, food and drink, memorial altars, marigold wreaths, sugar skulls, storytelling, puppets and parades.

It is thought of as a time to look back with laughter and happiness, rejoicing that these best beloveds were part of our lives and will always be part of our memories.

To honor her mother and brother, Valerie Richman created an altar that is among the altars, posters and art on display through Nov. 2 at the Petaluma Arts Center. The process was emotional but healing, “to have them be part of this whole room of memories,” said Richman, now the Center’s executive director.

“I’ve had the privilege of sitting here over the last two weeks and watching the altars emerge from nothing. It’s been touching, poignant and heartfelt.”

More than 60 altars are on public display around the city, including the Mail Depot; Petaluma Arts Center, 230 Lakeville St.; Heebe Jeebe, 46 Kentucky St.; St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, 35 Liberty St.; and the Petaluma Library, 100 Fairgrounds Drive.

Petaluma healing arts practitioner Kat Lilith helped create the first puppets, which have since become an important part of the procession.

“I had seen Day of the Dead altars at St. Vincent’s and wanted to have that larger (puppet) presence,” she said. She proposed it after the inaugural event, saying, “Next year, let’s build some puppets and have a parade.”

Lilith studied Day of the ?Dead traditions and history to be culturally respectful, creating giant puppets that have distinct personalities and can move ?in ways that make they seem alive.

When the mariachi dancers and the puppets came together a surge of energy was created, she said. “We looked at each other afterward and said, ‘What just happened?’”

At one level, the puppets represent the souls and spirits of loved ones coming back to celebrate with the community, Solar said. Lilith also explains their appeal as a way to alter our sense of reality.

“There’s a feeling of belonging that’s so deep, you feel nothing except that energy. It’s intense, powerful and beautiful,” she said. “There’s something about pageantry and performance. You’re one piece of a bigger picture. It helps others connect.”

At the end of the day, Richman said, the event has become ?a powerful community builder.

“We have two parallel communities here, white and Latino, and it doesn’t seem as if we overlap much, except in schools,” she said.

“I think that’s a wonderful aspect (of the celebration). The more we merge our communities, as often as we can, into one larger one, the better it is for everyone.”

The Saturday procession starts at 6 p.m. in front of Water Street Bistro, 100 Petaluma Blvd. N., and travels through Petaluma to the Mail Depot, 40 Fourth St. at D Street.

“Relax and Restore,” a healing event, starts at 6:30 p.m. at ?the Woman’s Club, 518 B St. ?Cost is $35 and requires a ?reservation from Deb Titus, 235-9934 or sacredsonglines@gmail.com.

Altars will be on display through Nov. 2 at the following Petaluma locations: Rex Ace Hardware, 313 B St.; Central Animal Hospital, 203 D St.; Petaluma Library, 100 Fairgrounds Drive; Knitterly, 1 Fourth St.; Fruit in Motion, 3 Fourth St.; One Planet, 5 Fourth St.; Bank of Marin, 8 Fourth St.; Sonoma County Surf Shop, 9 Fourth St.; Work, 10 Fourth St.; Acre Coffee, 21 Fourth St.; Nan Winters, 23 Fourth St.; Mail Depot, 40 Fourth St.; Aqus Café, 189 H St.; Uber Optics, 19 Kentucky St.; Petaluma Community Acupuncture, 21 Kentucky St.; Bovine Bakery, 23 Kentucky St.; and Dukes and Dolls, 25 Kentucky St.

For more information about the celebration, visit petalumaartscenter.org, call 762-5600, ext. 101 or go to Facebook.com-El-Día-de-los-Muertos/Petaluma on Facebook.

COUNTYWIDE DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EVENTS:

SONOMA, NOV. 1SONOMA, NOV. 1WINDSOR, NOV. 1HEALDSBURG, NOV. 1-2SANTA ROSA, NOV. 1-2

Seasonal crafts: Día de Los Muertos provides face painting, sugar-skull decorating and tissue-paper crafts from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Mission San Francisco Solano, 114 E. Spain St. $3, $2 ages 6-17, free 5 and under. Entry includes special altar display in the mission chapel and same-day admission 10 a.m.-5 p.m. to Sonoma Barracks, Toscano Hotel and General Vallejo's home. 938-9560. parks.ca.gov.

Bring photos of loved ones to the free public Dia de los Muertos celebration 6-8 p.m. Saturday in the Maloney Family Garden at the Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., and leave them on the 12-foot altar celebrating the lives of 75 Sonoma Valley people. 938-4626. sonomacommunitycenter.org.

Party and procession: La Fiesta para los Muertos features calavera face painting, Latin American food and refreshments, Aztec dancers, Windsor Bloco drum and dance, giant stick puppets and a candlelight procession from sunset to 10 p.m. Saturday on the Town Green, McClelland Drive and Market Street. Free. 217-1325. windsormuertos.org.

Honoring ancestors: The annual “El Día de los Muertos” presents altars, ceramics and visual artwork from Healdsburg High School's MAYO Club and includes bilingual audio tours 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Healdsburg Museum, 221 Matheson St. Free. The exhibit runs through Nov. 9; the museum is open Wednesday-Sunday. healdsburgmuseum.org.

Remembering loved ones: Observe Día de los Muertos, the traditional Mexican holiday to commemorate loved ones who have died, Saturday and Sunday in Old Courthouse Square. Free. All ages welcome; no alcohol permitted. santarosadiadelosmuertos.org.

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