Celebrating This Season Of Remembrance: aka the Season of Grace…
There’s an exciting event series I’ve been simmering up in recent years that started as a collaboration with local Hospitality Businesses primarily in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope — known nationwide for going all out with its Halloween + Fall Harvest decor and festivities each year —including one of the longest running annual, all-ages Halloween parades in New York City. Starting this year all of that festive fun (for the Grown Ups at least ;) won’t be ending on October 31st!…
Without further ado, I present to you (🥁…..)
A Celebratory “Season of Remembrance”: Spirited Storytelling + Flavorful Food, Drink, History & Cultural Connections
Join me, Tonya Hopkins, aka The Food Griot and lots of other live souls for: spirited storytelling along with samplings of flavor-filled foods, delicious drinks and historical context complete with contemporary connections to myriad culinary cultures while strolling throughout the Slope (aka Park Slope Brooklyn NYC) …. and beyond…
An all-new three-weeks+ Autumnal series that takes place during a time that some say is “Spooky Season” — the time frame that really gets into gear near Halloween until after Veterans Day (formerly known as Remembrance Day) that falls on 11/11 each year. Turns out there are quite a few historical, cultural, national (and yes, spiritual ;) “Days of Remembrance” aka Days of GRACE that take place around the globe during this same time of year (…just prior to the subsequent season of GRATITUDE (culminating near Thanksgiving and that of GIVING throughout December and well into the New Year :
“Samhain” in old Irish or Gaelic (Oct 31st - Nov 1st)
Day of the Dead/ Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico and its Diaspora (Nov 1st- 2nd)…
“La Festa dei Morti” in Italian (Nov 1st- 2nd)
Fèt Gede/“Festival of the Dead” in Haiti (Nov 1st- 2nd)
All Souls and All Saints Day in a wide range of Catholic-influenced cultures world-wide (Nov 1st- 2nd)
Atatürk Commemoration Day in Turkey (Nov. 10th)
Remembrance Day throughout the British Commonwealth (Nov 11th)
Veterans Day - U.S. Federal Holiday (Nov 11th) previously known as Remembrance Day…
Bhoot Choturdoshi or Narak Chaturdashi /“The Night of the Ghosts” in India and Bangladesh (Nov 12th)
A plethora of multi-cultural Days of Remembrance of various dates will also be acknowledged …
Mezcal holds an important place in Día de los Muertos traditions—offered to those who came before us, shared among the living, and enjoyed as part of gathering in remembrance. That makes it the most natural of all the spirits (pun intended) to help carry the spirit of remembrance forward into the broader Season of Remembrance—or Season of Grace—and Eléctrico Mezcal Artesanal, with its deep Oaxacan roots and its inclusive, globally minded story, is uniquely positioned to help lead that charge to connect dots across cultures. Years of scholarship and spirited storytelling behind what we eat and drink (incl. when & why) have led me to recognize mezcal as what I now refer to as “The New World’s Oldest Spirit.”
Onsite screenings of Eléctrico Mezcal’s award-winning short film, Festival Oaxaca, offer an amazing way to experience that connection, celebrating Oaxacan culture and Día de los Muertos while providing a peek into the people, place and story behind the mezcal. Screening and/or having it loopi n the background at Remembrance events creates great vibe and ambience
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The community-centered neighborhood of Park Slope, Bklyn NYC was the perfect place and starting point for this unprecedented and pioneering program that’s intended to foster connections in many forms. A vibrant neighborhood known for its abundance of restaurants and watering holes representing each of the above-mentioned cultures, nationalities, ethnicities and then some stretched along two major, parallel streets: 7th and 5th Aves. The latter especially is a multi-block oasis of “Mom & Pop” style small businesses (with loyal, local and destination-driven clienteles) peppered throughout a long stretch running from near downtown Brooklyn and the Barclays Center far beyond the South Slope towards Sunset Park…
Throughout Remembrance we visit many of these special places for tastings including: bits and bites of fab foods, delish sips of wines & spirits (+ creatively crafted cocktails and mocktails too) while experiencing immersive storytelling — and depending on the date and locale — you can also look forward to seeing: art displays, short film screenings, readings of: poetry, short plays , excerpts from relevantly themed books and ghost stories! Plus other spirit-lifting, body & soul nurturing activities for reflective rejoicing to help foster the art of remembrance of a range of impactful and inspirational lives lived — in both recent and far distant pasts.
WAYS TO COLLABORATE WITH ME (TFG LLC ) :
Event Location: be one of several select sites for this fantastical fun…
Sponsor: via various value exchange models including in-kind/product provisions for featuring & sampling
Administrative: tech, promo and/or logistics support…
Open to ideas! …
CONNECT: THopkins@TheFoodGriot.com + Tonya@ElectricoSpirit.com
Stay tuned for specific DATES & DETAILS
Connect @thefoodgriot
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