In Copenhagen, Denmark the municipality is actively encouraging recreational use of the cities cemeteries. As they write "The cemetery is also for the living". Everything else seems like a waste of space imo. Respect and leisure ain't orthogonal.
When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
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Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#22In Copenhagen, Denmark the municipality is actively encouraging recreational use of the cities cemeteries. As they write "The cemetery is also for the living". Everything else seems like a waste of space imo. Respect and leisure ain't orthogonal. https://www.kk.dk/kirkegaarde
love that. yes some are making it out to be something disrespectful somehow. i also would prefer if cemeteries were converted to parks to be green spaces available to all.
spots in cemeteries are also usually only affordable for the propertied class too. for many in the working class they're not viable.
do our cities really need to reserve and block off sizable physical spaces for decades, when we have a housing crisis in most cities around the world? i am all for beautiful ceremonies and the like, but the use of excessive physical space in cities seems outdated.
consider also that we now have photos, video and other digital media to help us remember loved ones and keep them alive in our memory.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#23Filipinos still do it! Usually during their version of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) which we in the west call All Saints Day and they call Araw ng mga Yumao.
Pedantry: Día de los Muertos is All Souls Day, November 2, the day after All Saints.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#24Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC, allow or used to allow people to pay a monthly or annual fee that gave them the right to bring their dogs into it. I gather from someone I worked with that the dogs would run off-leash and play as in a dog park. I'm sure that the expectation was that owners would clean up after their dogs, and I'm sure that my co-worker did/does.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#25I remember the scene in the TV show "How I met your mother" where one of the main characters, Marshall, goes to visit his dad's grave with a BBQ and some beers to watch a game(of football?) with his dad like they always used to. I thought it was extremely unusual but actually, kind of lovely.
Where I come from(Poland) cemetaries are almost sacred, instead of halloween we celebrate "wszystkich świętych"(all saints day) where everyone does the annual pilgrimage to the graves of their families to pay their respects. At the end of the night every cemetery is glowing with candles, all graves are adorned with flowers and other decorations it's all very solemn and sirious - I think the idea of a "picnic" at a cemetery would be seen as very disrespectful here - but it's still very interesting.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#26St Mary's Kew (West London) has a lovely small graveyard and overlooks the cricket ground. They also do great afternoon teas, and (respectful) consumption of tea and cakes in the graveyard (while watching the cricket) is welcome.
I'd be very happy for my grave to be there!
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#27I remember the scene in the TV show "How I met your mother" where one of the main characters, Marshall, goes to visit his dad's grave with a BBQ and some beers to watch a game(of football?) with his dad like they always used to. I thought it was extremely unusual but actually, kind of lovely. Where I come from(Poland) cemetaries are almost sacred, instead of halloween we celebrate "wszystkich świętych"(all saints day…
That sounds very similar to the Spanish Día de los Muertos.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#28I remember the scene in the TV show "How I met your mother" where one of the main characters, Marshall, goes to visit his dad's grave with a BBQ and some beers to watch a game(of football?) with his dad like they always used to. I thought it was extremely unusual but actually, kind of lovely. Where I come from(Poland) cemetaries are almost sacred, instead of halloween we celebrate "wszystkich świętych"(all saints day…
That sounds very similar to the Spanish Día de los Muertos.
I lived for 30 years in what you would call Spain and never heard about that.
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
That sounds very similar to the Spanish Día de los Muertos.
I lived for 30 years in what you would call Spain and never heard about that.
It’s Mexican - although perhaps it’s observed by Mexicans living abroad as well?
I think the commenter just meant the name was in Spanish, though
Re: When Americans picnicked in cemeteries
#30> One of the reasons why eating in cemeteries become a “fad,” as some reporters called it, was that epidemics were raging across the country: Yellow fever and cholera flourished, children passed away before turning 10, women died during childbirth. Death was a constant visitor for many families, and in cemeteries, people could “talk” and break bread with family and friends, both living and deceased. It's fascinating…
There is a Chinese holiday, Qingming ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival ), devoted to caring for ancestors' graves. Obviously, there is heavy cemetery traffic on that day. The major ritual involves burning (fake) money for the deceased to use in the afterlife, but food offerings are also made. The food is not burned - it is recovered and eaten by normal living people, though I don't know whether people…
They do eat there, here in Hong Kong it's even funny: people dont go all at the same time and end up putting their trash on other people's grave, making the entire cemetary a mess on the day.
Weirdly, they also are absolutely insanely paranoid about have a view of the cemetary from their appartment: I know me and my wife lived in one such (cheap as a consequence) flat, and her parents were quite mad. When we left, the owner was trying to sell it, but all couples would just stop at the view, pause, and nope as fast as possible :D
I'm trying to get a suicidee or murderee flat for cheap but my wife is absolutely against still.