Peabody Museum to host Day of the Dead celebration

Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnography will come alive in a unique way Nov. 2 when it joins the Consulate General of Mexico in Boston in hosting a celebration of the traditional Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

The Day of the Dead combines Mesoamerican and Christian rituals by remembering and celebrating the dead on Nov. 1 (All Saints’ Day) and Nov. 2 (All Souls’ Day). The museum will host a family event from 1 to 4:30 p.m. featuring traditional dance performances by Harvard’s Ballet Folklorico, craft activities including papel picado (colorful Mexican paper decoration), calaca (skull) masks, paper marigolds, and sugar skull workshops.

A fiesta from 6 to 9 p.m. will feature salsa, son, and mariachi music. Visitors will also have the opportunity to watch demonstrations by wood carver Ventura Fabian of Oaxaca, Mexico, taste pan de muerto (bread of the dead), sip Aztec chocolate, and much more.

The family event from 1-4:30 pm is free with museum admission and the sugar skull workshops are $5 per participant. The fiesta from 6-9 pm is free, and tickets are required. For sugar skull workshop tickets, call 617-465-3216. For fiesta tickets, call 617-495-2269 or email linardos@fas.harvard.edu.