“Stay in your cars. No bikes. No motorcycles,” Monica Sanchez, co-founder of Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group, warns with a gentle wagging of her finger. That is really the only rule of the Dia de los Muertos Reverse Parade — other than not referring to the holiday as Mexico’s Halloween. “Don’t even get me started on that,” Sanchez says.
This year’s parade is set in reverse. Kathy Dumlao, director of education and interpretation at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, explains, “Because of Covid, we wanted it to be like Shelby Farms’ Starry Nights, where you see the sites from inside your car as you drive along.” There, you can watch performances by Cazateatro Catrinas, folklore groups, mariachi bands, and more, and stationary floats will be interspersed throughout the route in Overton Park. Decorated in bright colors and papel picado (perforated paper), the floats will hold marigolds for the dead to smell, candles for the dead to find their way, and other more personal items to encourage the dead to visit. “Sometimes, we mock the dead,” Sanchez says. “But in a loving way.”
Another symbol of the holiday: skulls and skeletons. “We all end up skeletons one way or another. There’s nothing scary about Dia de los Muertos,” Sanchez says. “That’s why when you’re a kid you eat sugar skulls to remind you that death is sweet.”
An audio tour will be available on SoundCloud to accompany your ride (or to listen at home), and guests can pick up craft kits for later. “Now, don’t stop and hold up the parade,” Sanchez reminds. “But feel free to circle around and come back if you’d like.”
Dia de los Muertos Reverse Parade, Overton Park, 1930 Poplar, Saturday, October 23rd, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., free.
