On Saturday evening, community members gathered to remember those who have passed away at this evening’s 17th Duluth All Souls’ Night celebration.

Created by Mary Plaster, Duluth All Souls Night (DASN) is organized through the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council and the Clean Water Lands and Heritage Amendment. In addition to shedding light on making the world a better place, the event respects and honors our departed loved ones.

“We can come together as a community and say, ‘Yes, these are the things we have in common.’ ‘These are the ways we come together and we are a community.’ And so we have things in common. So this is really important. We show each other that this is our culture, this is how we celebrate, this is how we respect our ancestors. And we see: “Oh, this is different.” But it’s the same,” said DASN volunteer Louisa Posada-Eckstine.

The Night of All Souls is believed to be the time when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. Many celebrants leave gifts and food for those they have lost to take to the afterlife.

“This is when we feast on them. We give them their favorite beverage, alcoholic beverages like cider, tequila, hot cocoa, whatever they want. What was their favorite food? Let’s put it out for them and prepare a spirits dinner. This is how we celebrate them. We make friends. We put their pictures. And again, all cultures have some form of commemoration of their ancestors,” Posada-Eckstine said.

click Here For more information on Duluth All Souls Night.