Day of the Dead Festival to be held at Harbourfront in November

Ancient Mexican traditions return to Harbourfront Centre 

TORONTO, ON (October. 11, 2012) – Harbourfront Centre celebrates Mexico’s annual Day of the Dead Festival (Nov. 3-4, 2012) sponsored by Scotiabank.

The event is a time of return – where families come together, city dwellers return to ancestral villages and the dead visit the living. Programmed in partnership with the Consulate General of Mexico in Toronto and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mexico, this FREE, two-day festival celebrates the cycle of life in both a spiritual and visual sense.

 From 12-6 p.m. each day, the public is invited to a variety of daily hands-on activities, demonstrations and performances that reflect the history and traditions associated with the Day of the Dead holiday.

New this year, are special lectures and workshops led by experts in Mexican cuisine, history and visual art.

The leading authority on Mexican regional cooking and ingredients, chef Diana Kennedy (known as the Julia Child of Mexican cooking), participates in an intimate and interactive conversation with local food authority Naomi Duguid; author and specialist in Mexican popular culture and history, Chloë Sayer, presents an informative talk-back session with Carlomagno Pedro Martinez; Martinez, a renowned expert on the art of ‘barro negro’ (black clay) sculptures will also hosts hands-on workshop.

Visitors can also experience authentic mariachi tunes with Viva Mexico Mariachi, watch a colourful dance performance from the Mexican Folkloric Dance Company and peruse our Mexican Craft Market where artisans working with traditional materials such as paper, clay, and sugar create images filled with broad humour and cutting satire to remind the living that the life you lead on earth garners respect or ridicule in the after-life.

This season’s programming explores The Big IDEA of “Re.” When placed in front of another word, “re” asks us to consider something again. It challenges our vantage points, makes us question the familiar and examine our assumptions. It asks us to look back to the places we’ve journeyed from. And that, for us, is one of the fundamental aims of artistic expression.

We invite to you consider (or is that reconsider?) the impact of “re” on your world. What places will you return to? What will you rediscover? Where will “re” take you?

For additional information and complete event listings, the public may visit harbourfrontcentre.com or call the Information Hotline at 416-973-4000. Harbourfront Centre is located at 235 Queens Quay W, in the heart of Toronto’s downtown waterfront.

-30-

ABOUT HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
Harbourfront Centre is an innovative, non-profit cultural organization which provides internationally renowned programming in the arts, culture, education and recreation, all within a collection of distinctive venues on the 10-acre site it operates in the heart of Toronto's downtown waterfront.