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A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community. Cirilo Franco, shown here, helped put it together.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
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A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
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A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community. Pictured are some of the volunteers who helped put it together, from left: Sandra Nieto, Cirilo Franco, Cindy Quintana and Arlene Anderson.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
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Monica Rodriquez, a multicultural counselor at Weber State’s Multicultural Center, talks about the Day of the Dead activities held at The Monarch in Ogden on Monday, November 1st, 2021. In the background there is an altar dedicated to the dead. Also in the photo, from the left, are Norah Valle, Isabel Asensio and Victor Valle.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
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A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community. The picture shows some of the volunteers who helped put it together, from left: Arlene Anderson, Cindy Quintana, Cirilo Franco and Sandra Nieto.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
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A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community. Cirilo Franco, shown here, helped put it together.
A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community.
A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community. Pictured are some of the volunteers who helped put it together, from left: Sandra Nieto, Cirilo Franco, Cindy Quintana and Arlene Anderson.
Monica Rodriquez, a multicultural counselor at Weber State’s Multicultural Center, talks about the Day of the Dead activities held at The Monarch in Ogden on Monday, November 1st, 2021. In the background there is an altar dedicated to the dead. Also in the photo, from the left, are Norah Valle, Isabel Asensio and Victor Valle.
A Day of the Dead Altar at The Monarch, pictured on Monday November 1, 2021, features COVID-19 victims among other things in an effort to raise awareness of the virus’s impact on the Latino community. The picture shows some of the volunteers who helped put it together, from left: Arlene Anderson, Cindy Quintana, Cirilo Franco and Sandra Nieto.
OGDEN – The organizers of weeklong day of the dead activities in Ogden took the opportunity to spotlight those who died of COVID-19 and efforts to fight the virus.
The virus has “ruled our lives for the past two years. We want to get rid of it, ”said Cirilo Franco, who will help organize the events until Friday.
The Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos in Spanish, has its roots in Mexico and is an annual tribute to the deceased, usually celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. One of the pivotal points of this week’s expanded activities, organized by a coalition of groups and volunteers and held at The Monarch, is a sprawling altar, a Day of the Dead tradition that focuses on COVID-19 victims .
COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Latinos and other people of color, Franco said, and part of the altar’s goal is to raise awareness of inequality. Many of those remembered on the altar died from the virus, their photos marked with small notes that read “Lost to COVID-19”.
“We also wanted to draw attention to the COVID vaccine so we can try to put the pandemic behind us,” said Franco. As part of the wide range of activities, COVID-19 vaccines will be administered free of charge on Friday at The Monarch, 455 25th St., from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in collaboration with the Weber-Morgan Health Department.
The altar – or ofrenda in Spanish – displays photos of those to be remembered, as well as examples of things that are important to them in life. There’s a bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola made with cane sugar; a Mexican mortar and pestle, or molcajete, filled with jalapeños, onions, and tomatoes; a bottle of tequila; a bottle of Mole, a Mexican dark chocolate sauce; and more.
“It’s just your offering to your ancestors, to people who have died,” said Khylee Betancourt, a Weber state student who helped with the monarch’s Day of the Dead activities on Monday.
The altar is also decorated with many skulls, skeletal figures and marigolds. The orange flower is said to attract spirits.
Day of the Dead altars are usually placed in homes or even on burial sites in cemeteries. Family members will remember loved ones, usually in a joyful way. “You have flowers. You have food. They have music, ”said Franco.
A presentation of the art and music of the Ogden School District is scheduled for Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. as part of the expanded Day of the Dead activities at The Monarch. The Ogden City Latino Film Festival takes place on Thursday from 6pm to 8.30pm
Several artists will perform on Friday, including Las Cafeteras and Weber State’s Ballet Folklorico group. The conversation should go from 6:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Entry to all activities organized by representatives from Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music and other groups is free.
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