Spanish Honor Society and KAY club will hold a festival for the Day of the Dead Nov. 6 from 6-8 p.m. Families will be able to learn about Spanish culture and traditions of the Day of the Dead, as well as participate in arts and crafts.

Spanish teacher Heather Martens said the target audience for the festival is younger children. She said BVNW feeder elementary schools and middle schools were invited to attend in hopes that the younger children will get a better understanding of the Day of the Dead tradition.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand other cultures,” Martens said. “You can relate better to people when you understand their culture.”

Spanish teacher Kari Hillen said one of the goals the Spanish department has this year is to reach out to the feeder elementary and middle schools. She said tomorrow’s event is a great way to do that.

“I just hope [students] have a positive experience,” Hillen said. “Younger kids always look up to high school students and think [they are] the coolest thing ever…so it’s always nice for them to get to see [high school students] and what you can do with the language.”

This is the first year of the festival, but Spanish Honor Society president and senior Nikhit Chimalakonda said he hopes the festival will continue to be an annual thing in the upcoming years.

“If you come, you’d get a better understanding of the Spanish culture, specifically the Mexican culture,” Chimalakonda said. “[Day of the Dead] is really more of a celebration than a memorial kind of thing, so it’s kind of knowing how different cultures celebrate the deceased and also a fun time for the kids being able do the activities.”

Hillen and Martens said they hope the festival will draw kids to Spanish-speaking culture and influence them to continue taking Spanish classes in their educational careers.

“[Understanding a culture] makes speaking another language better when you like the culture,” Martens said. “They go hand in hand. Our kids are in Spanish since kindergarten, for the most part, and [the festival] is just another way to inspire them.”