Secular Day of the Dead Event

As nontheists, we know that this is our one and only life to live.

Although we do not believe in an afterlife, it is important to stress the fact that when we die, all that will be left is our legacy.

In that sense, we are eternal: through our legacies we will live on.

At a Secular Day of the Dead event we can come together as a community to celebrate life – not death.

Hispanics have an emotional connection to our loved ones, and for centuries Day of the Dead rituals have been connected to supernatural beliefs.

With a reinvented celebration are lifting Day of the Dead traditions to a higher secular standard.

A Secular Day of the Dead event is actually a celebration of life and we have incorporated Hispanic rituals and traditions that have no religious or supernatural connections.

Nontheist Hispanics view the Day of the Dead, as a perfect way to remember dead loved ones in a way that does not require prayer, church, or any religious dogma.

At a Secular Day of the Dead event attendees speak about their dead friends and/or relatives and we encourage people to bring  a photo of the person they want to honor.

A display of photos is a Day of the Dead tradition and we nontheists appreciate and respect Hispanic traditions and cultural rituals.

More and more people are abandoning their religious upbringing, but still want to celebrate the beauty of their culture and on a Secular Day of the Dead event, we adopt those rituals and traditions in a very special secular way.

This is why a Secular Day of the Dead was created.

Victoria De la Torre and Margaret Downey got together in 2014 to talk about the latest statistics and social surveys that reveal 30% of the population in the United States consider themselves non-religiously affiliated.

Most of those 30% enjoy community and social gatherings as a way to build strong group ties. 

It occurred to them that they must be creative if we are to appeal to those new non-affiliated citizens.

A successful Secular Day of the Dead took place and to help it get repeated all across the country, this website will provide samples of needed items such as a press release and poster. At this website you will find activity suggestions and even sound bites to use during a media interview.

We hope you enjoy seeing the samples, photos and suggestions on this site and be inspired to host a Secular Day of the Dead in your area.