Día de los Muertos: Bringing Magic and Macondo to Life

On Friday, November 6, past, present, and future members of the Seven Arrows community gathered to celebrate Día de los Muertos. This beloved tradition honors those in our lives who have passed. It is also the culmination of many months of learning across subjects and creativity that involves every student, teacher, and family at Seven Arrows.

More Than a Celebration

Día de los Muertos is rooted in the belief that death is not an ending but a transition, and that the people we love remain with us as long as we remember them. Every student creates ofrendas, or altars, with photographs. Favorite foods, meaningful trinkets, and marigolds are placed on the alter to welcome loved ones back and celebrate their lives. It is a tradition of remembrance, gratitude, and joy, and it approaches loss with warmth and connection rather than fear.

We study and celebrate this tradition because it offers children something rare: a way to talk openly about love, memory, and loss. Students learn that cultures around the world hold different understandings of life and death, and that those understandings deserve curiosity and respect. For our families with roots in Mexico and Latin America, it is also a chance to see their heritage honored at the center of school life, and for every student to learn from it.

A Festival Inspired by Magical Realism

This year, the festival was inspired by the life and work of Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez and the idea of magical realism. One of Colombia’s most beloved writers, García Márquez wrote stories that crossed every border and reached every corner of the world, yet they remain deeply familiar to many of our own families. In his pages, reality and magic move together, sometimes tenderly, sometimes with humor, sometimes with astonishing grandeur, until the magic becomes simply the truth of the present moment. Those of us who grew up listening to our grandparents’ stories recognize that world at once.

Together, the community transformed our campus into the town of Macondo, the setting of García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Birds of Colombia and drifting yellow butterflies, a recurring image in his writing, appeared in student art and parent-driven installations throughout the campus.

Art That Grows Out of Integrated Experiential Learning

The art behind Día de los Muertos is based in the curriculum students learn throughout the school year. In Global Cultural History, students explored the symbolism behind the traditions of Día, including sugar skulls, calaveras, and Catrinas, and what each one means. The butterflies, birds, and flowers of Colombia brought science into the creative process. The result is art that carries both meaning and understanding.

Performances en Español

Students performed dances and songs in Spanish during the morning and evening performances. They performed poems, solos, and portrayed characters from One Hundred Years of Solitude and Gabriel García Marquez himself. In one of our most beloved traditions, sixth graders performed mother/son and father/daughter dances. After the evening performance, we held a Street Fiesta that welcomed the whole community, complete with tacos, churros, aguas frescas, and a live band. It’s always a joy to see the many alumni return every year for the fiesta and to welcome in new families to experience this unique tradition. 

We were honored that Rodrigo García Barcha, son of Gabriel García Márquez, attended the evening performance. He shared that his father grew up close to his grandmother and aunts, who were constantly telling stories, and that those stories, in a way, haunted him and drove the creativity he brought to his books. It was a moving connection to the writer whose imagination inspired this year’s festival.

A Milestone for Our New Campus

The festival also marked a milestone for our school. We held a ribbon cutting ceremony, where our sixth grade students cut the ribbon to officially inaugurate our new campus. This is a very special class that has been through so much, from COVID to the fires, and it was meaningful to have them open this new chapter for Seven Arrows as the leaders of the school.

Made Possible by Our Community

Our parent community plays a vital role in this tradition. Parent volunteers drive the creation and installation of the art and flowers that transformed our campus, and our moms performed in the annual Moms Dance, which is always a crowd favorite.

Congratulations and thank you to our students, faculty, staff, and parent volunteers. This festival would not be possible without you.