International Day of the Dead Festival

Tehachapi’s Old Pioneer Cemetery, originally called the Shields Cemetery, was established in 1858 just a few years after early settlers came to the Tehachapi area. Men who were “shot in a gunfight” or “died of infected bowels” are buried there as well as many infants who perished under harsh conditions. Everyday people who were the back bone of a budding community that would become Tehachapi found a resting place on a barren acre, in what is now Golden Hills.

The Tehachapi Heritage League will sponsor a Day of the Dead Festival on October 29 to raise awareness for the Adopt-a -Grave Program and funds for general maintenance. The festival will involve local artists, dancers and story tellers, and the Latino community. A $5 suggested donation will be collected at the gate, and the $25 vendor fee will bring revenue for the upkeep of the cemetery.

Traditionally, the Day of the Dead Festival takes place over several days usually in early November bringing family and friends together to remember and pray for loved ones that have passed away. The origins of the Festival date back at least 2,000 years to when the Aztec of ancient Mexico celebrated a Goddess they called “The Lady of the Dead.” In modern times the Festival is a brightly colored celebration where elaborate altars called “ofrendas” are erected and decorated with paper flowers, sugar skulls and wooden crosses.

Celebrants often bring blankets and pillows to rest comfortably while friends and family share anecdotes and reminisce. Sometimes short, often humorous poems are read aloud and some people wear shells and bells on their clothes to dance around inviting the spirit of the dead to join them. Arts and crafts are on display, where handmade items are especially favored as a time honored tradition.

The Day of the Dead Festival is now celebrated throughout the world in places as far away as Australia and the Philippines. UNESCO has called the holiday “an international cultural heritage of humanity.”

It seems the desire to venerate and visit our loved ones that have passed is a universal one. The past holds as many mysteries as the future and is well worth celebrating with a Day of the Dead Festival.

The festival will take place on Saturday, October 29 from 2 to 7 p.m. Plans for the Festival are already underway.

Anyone interested in participating in the “first ever” benefit as a vendor of handcrafted art or as an artist to construct an altar can contact Harry Rotz at [email protected] or at (818) 398-5436.