The same krewe that brought 12th Night Austin to the streets – we’re not talking Shakespeare here – is throwing a Dia de los Muertos celebration that might even outdo their Mardi Gras kickoff.
Though I spent four years of my adult life living in San Francisco’s Mission District, never once have I marched in a Dia De Los Muertos parade. Then I moved to the nation’s capital. To my knowledge D.C. didn’t have one. But now in Austin, my curiosity is piqued, and I’m seriously considering joining in tomorrow’s procession.
Krewe de Bisoux is hoping to enhance a tradition here in my new city, and they’re promising to pave the way (and 1.3 mile walk) with a medley of sugar skulls and marigolds, all the way from Pan Am Park to Tillery Park where the celebration will be held.
Citing the parade arts and culture of New Orleans as the inspiration, this procession calls for participants. And while there will be a photo booth, music, and tempting treats offered, this holiday is rooted in remembering our departed loved ones. Krewe de Bisoux invites revelers to bring a keepsake for the altars, and a Facebook post offered to include personal photos of those who have passed for the digital alter as well.
Though I’ve always been enticed by the sugar skull beauty, maybe it was the lack of this type of community that kept me apart from San Francisco’s festivities. In the Mission, you were either celebrating an important holiday, or it was an excuse to wear pretty makeup. The two pieces never seemed to merge. But maybe with the work of Bisoux, Austin’s celebration may be able to unite all aspects of Dia de los Muertos into one solidified ceremony.
Before the procession lands at Tillery Park, nearby ALLGO will be hosting their Día de Los Muertos community altar exhibit. One event can roll into another if you plan it right.
Maybe this is the year where I join in, maybe not so much for my dearly departed, but to celebrate the living and the melding of cultures that this parade offers.
We couldn’t put it any better than the Bisoux girls do on their site: “By taking this festival to the streets and into our neighborhood, we hope to revive an ancient tradition dear to our hearts, a remembrance of all those we have loved and lost. We aim to create a parade for dashing fellows, sparkling queens, urchins and mamas and their little ones, and elders and sisters and brothers and lovers. And, of course, for our beloved dead – invoked, unseen, everywhere.“
This article appears in Ted-dy Cruz-er.