More than 50 participants celebrated Día de los Muertos on Sunday at Laurel Lake Preserve. The traditional Mexican and Latin American holiday honors family and friends who have passed on.

Sonia Spar, Town of Southold Spanish-speaking community service worker, Jennifer Murray of Turtleback Environmental Education Center and Carmen Campos of PuppetED collaborated to host theevent with an emphasis on environmental awareness and cultural connections.

The event was free and included face painting, crafts, a nature hike and a puppet show about monarch butterfly migration and its cultural significance. According to traditional belief, the monarchs are the souls of ancestors who are returning to earth for their annual visit, hence the holiday occurring when the butterflies appear.

At the event Ms. Spar spoke about being mindful in the celebration of both life and death, how to be in the moment and allow for grieving the loss of loved ones. Ms. Campos performed an interactive puppet show on the connection between the monarch butterfly migration and the holiday. Ms. Murray led a nature walk and discussed the challenges migrating monarchs face and what can be done to help them, while Ms. Spar’s son Jacob translated for the Spanish-speaking participants.