By Danita Brisson
Festival de Vivos y Muertos is a free event of self-expression and empowerment for the children of San Miguel and their parents. Now in its ninth year, this labour of love for co-founders Tina Bueche and Fernando Tovar occurs on Sunday, October 27 from 11:00am to 5:00pm at Bellas Artes. Last year 300 children aged 18 months to 17 years participated. Even more are expected this year. In preparation for Day of the Dead, children craft decorations for their families’ ofrendas. They may also have their faces painted, pose in photo booths, enjoy storytelling, watch the movie “Coco” in immersive virtual reality and even compete in a talent show, just like the movie’s hero, Miguel.
“These kids show such courage,” marvels Bueche. “They get up on stage and sing, dance, tell jokes or play musical instruments. They share themselves with no expectations.” While honoring the lives and contributions of their ancestors, the children also discover their own unique skills and talents. Bueche and Tovar believe that self-awareness and confidence are integral to inspiring lifelong goals, hopes and aspirations for careers and self-fulfillment; all critical tools to help children chart positive paths to adulthood.
Bueche’s hope is that the festival will continue “as long as there are kids.” Tovar explains his motivation this way. “As a child, I sometimes felt like I was not part of Día de Muertos, like I was looking in from the outside. We provide everything I wish I had then.”
Preparations begin in August with jovial “work parties” where more than a dozen expat and local volunteers, including 12-year-old Vanessa, collect and prepare every craft supply imaginable including ceramic figures, miniature mojiganga forms, paper flowers and 3D pens that extrude colourful plastic filaments, like manual 3D printers. Kids love the new technology. In their hands it transforms revered artisanal expressions into striking contemporary statements, and through that process, they themselves are transformed.
When asked what she enjoyed most about volunteering, Vanessa confided shyly that she likes painting, and she likes the people. Perhaps the festival has already provided her guiding light. Perhaps she will become theirs.
Find more information on their Facebook page ‘Festival of the Living and the Dead/San Miguel de Allende’.
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