The Ancestor Ball + Lotion & Potion Faire

Join us this Halloween for a full day of remembrance, celebration, community care, family fun, and music, all benefiting local wildfire recovery.

We're hosting a benefit for the River Warrior Society and the Community Cultural Center of Tonasket's Sinlahekin Fire Fund.

Come for the Lotion + Potion Faire, help build our community ancestor altar, gather for the Feast with Our Ancestors, take the kids around Tonasket trick-or-treating, and come back for live music and a costumed dance party at the Ancestor Ball.

At the heart of the Ancestor Ball is the Feast with Our Ancestors, a family tradition we're opening to our larger community.

In light of all our community has faced this year, the Many Rivers Healing Gathering team wanted to offer this gathering as a way to come together in healing—to experience the power of collective remembrance, make room for collective grief, and celebrate being alive together.

The Feast with Our Ancestors is a family tradition Iris began when her daughter was little. Having experienced profound loss as a child, she has always been in relationship with her dead people.

Many cultures have their own traditions for honoring the dead. Halloween itself has deep roots in the ancient Irish festival of the dead, Samhain (SOW-in), a time when the dead were understood to be especially close to the living. Irish immigrants brought these traditions to North America, and as Halloween evolved, remembrance of the dead became much less central to the holiday.

As someone whose ancestors originated in Ireland, honoring her dead has long been part of how Iris observes this time of year. This year, she's opening the table wider and inviting our community to gather with us.

At 4 PM, we'll begin building a community ancestor altar together. You're invited to bring a photograph of a loved one who has passed on, flowers, or another remembrance to add to the altar.

At 5 PM, we'll sit down together for our community feast provided by the Community Cultural Center.

Those who wish to participate will be invited to share memories or stories of a loved one they're remembering, helping us honor someone who mattered to you.

Proceeds after event costs will benefit two community-based relief efforts providing direct support to people affected by this year's fires.

River Warrior Society provides on-the-ground emergency relief and direct support to Indigenous families and communities affected by wildfires on the Colville and Spokane reservations. Their work has included financial and material assistance, food, water, gas cards, temporary lodging, supplies, support for animals and longer-term community recovery.

The Sinlahekin Fire Fund administered by the Community Cultural Center of Tonasket provides direct support to families affected by the Sinlahekin Fire in Tonasket, Loomis, and surrounding communities.

You'll also have the opportunity to contribute directly to the beneficiary organizations beyond your ticket purchase.