Forget Hall-ho-ween and Do Fet Gede Instead

American Halloween is weak sauce: Dress up like Michael Jackson, pay too much to get into a cheesy club where every single girl is wearing a hooker costume, and then drive home drunk. No, thanks. Fet Gede, on the other hand, is pure tequila. The name translates to “Festival for...

By P. Scott Cunningham

November 5, 2009

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American Halloween is weak sauce: Dress up like Michael Jackson, pay too much to get into a cheesy club where every single girl is wearing a hooker costume, and then drive home drunk. No, thanks.

Fet Gede, on the other hand, is pure tequila. The name translates to “Festival for the Sacred Dead,” and in Haiti, it’s Halloween vodou-style, which means live music and dancing in graveyards. No table reservation necessary; just pick a grave and open your hip flask. And instead of hitting on douchey strangers, celebrants commune with their ancestors in a ritual designed to remind people of where they came from. How refreshing.

If you can’t get to Haiti this Friday, might as well go to Tap Tap for its 15th annual Fet Gede celebration. The free festivities kick off at 10 p.m. with a performance by Manno Charlemagne and his band, followed by a traditional ceremony for Gede conducted by Aboudja, a vodou priest and musician who’s in town from the island. There will also be special drumming performances and, of course, dancing.
Fri., Nov. 6, 10 p.m., 2009

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