Day Of The Dead Comes Alive

In a studio in Erector Square, Stefanie Loeb has been teaching a dragon to bite, helping an eagle to take flight, and animating skeletons with PVC ribs enclosing their cold, cold hearts.

Loeb was part of a crew of volunteers working at Bregamos Community Theater Company in Erector Square Wednesday afternoon. The workshop is the staging area for a variety of beasts, birds, skulls and skeletons destined for a Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos parade and carnival in Fair Haven this Saturday.

The grassroots immigrant rights group Unidad Latina en Accion is often a moving force behind parades and marches in support of workers or against police brutality. This time, in an inaugural event for the organization, the group is organizing the cultural promenade and carnival that originall were to kick off at Criscuolo Park at 4 p.m. on Saturday. [Change as of Friday, because of the weather: Gather at the Bregamos Theater space at Erector Square at Blatchley and Peck instead.]

At 5 p.m., the masked revelers will make their way to Bregamos Community Theater Company’s rehearsal space in Erector Square and begin to party. The event culminates with offerings of food, photos, and music at the altar of the dead, in honor of the dearly departed.

The tone is festive, not funereal, said John Carmona of Unidad. The event is a celebration of Latino culture and values, he said. Although El Dia de los Muertos is primarily a Mexican-accented festival, all Latino cultures have a related carnival at this time of year coinciding with Halloween or All-Saints Day, and non-Latinos are invited to participate, he said. Although Unidad is a grassroots immigrants’ rights organization, the party and parade are primarily events, not political ones, said Carmona.

For the last two months Carmona, Loeb, volunteer Hector Hernandez, and others have been collecting discarded materials, going to thrift shops, and organizing workshops to help build the large and friendly creatures that filled up Bregamos’ theater space.

The only funding has come from a small grant from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.

Loeb said that at least 20 large puppets are being prepared, including one dragon, two birds, eight human skeletons, and two fish skeletons.

About 60 people have volunteered their time to create the creatures to appear on parade Saturday. Nina Petrochko, for example, had just finished painting this long cloth, destined to become an impressive avian wingspan. The puppet’s eagle-like head and beak will be painted into a fierce visage.

Loeb said that when the bird is complete, a team of puppeteers will use poles to flap the birds wings during the parade.

Among the puppets on display in the staging area were a giant-sized baker, construction worker, and farmer (who had borrowed the construction worker’s vest). Megan Fountain of Unidad said they were used in May Day events organized by Unidad on the Green. They will make their Criscuolo park debut on Saturday.

Hernandez was busy painting the wooden feet of his skeletons and securing their PVC-tube ribs. Completely self-taught, he discovered Unidad in May when he sought help with a wage theft ccomplaint against a downtown restaurant.

This Saturday three of his 9‑foot skeletons will be parading, complete with papier mache sombrero and mustache.

Loeb, with whom Hernandez has been working, called him a natural sculptor, and the father of many skulls in the parade.

Although the celebrations, especially in Mexico, have merged with Catholic theology, the skulls and skeletons are part of a pre-Christian indigenous celebration of the Day of the Dead.

Hernandez said that the marigold is also associated with the holiday. The Aztec or indigenous word for the flower is ​“sempasochth.”

This is the first year Unidad has put on a full-fledged parade or carnival, although every year since its founding in 2002, the organization has mounted an altar for the Day of the Dead.

Carmona said the altar is the ultimate destination and chief focus of Day of the Dead. The puppet-makers were so busy on the skeletons, fish, and dragons, they hadn’t yet figured out where to build the altar because Bregamos will be full of performers and party-ers. Organizers are asking people to bring photographs or music or food that your departed ones enjoyed, all to be placed on the altar.

Latino bakeries are also preparing pan de muerto, or bread of the dead, which will be served at the Unidad/Bregamos party.

“They only sell it at this time of year. It’s sweet with sugar and you’re supposed to eat it with hot chocolate,” said Carmona. ​“It’s a happy party so the dead will want to participate.”

To share that happiness, it’s important to say ​“Smile” when you take pictures of the festive skulls.