New Rochelle's Big Read Ends with Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos) exhibit and program, sponsored by the New Rochelle Library, which was postponed due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15 at New Rochelle High School.

The exhibit, orginally scheduled for Nov. 1 had to be rescheduled because the electricity had not been restored in time to allow the exhibit and programs to be completely ready.

Created by over 700 New Rochelle High School students, the free exhibit celebrates the return to earth of deceased family and friends. It will be held in the Museum of Arts and Culture, the Linda Kelly Theater and the cafeteria in the new wing of the high school off Braemor Road.

The students worked with a group of local artists who have fashioned the annual Day of the Dead exhibits at the New Rochelle Public Library since 2007.

Light refreshments from Mexican restaurants and bakeries will kick off the evening from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. There will also be craft projects for children in pre-kindergarten through grade five.

From 6:30 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. Atl-Tlachinolli, a group that wears colorful regalia and headwear made from giant feathers, will perform Aztec cermonies in the exhibit space and then in the Linda Kelly Theater.

Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Nueva York will perform from 7:10 p.m. to 8:45 p.m in full costume a dance program specific to the Day of the Dead. A mariachi gropu will perform during intermission.

Day of the Dead is the final event of the library's Big Read, the community-wide reading of Sun, Stone and Shadows: 20 Great Mexican Short Stories. The Big Read, which as made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, began with a Fiesta Grande for Mexican Independence Day and continued with thousands of New Rochelle adults and young adults reading and discussing the short stories.