Festival Features In-Person and Online Events October 30-November 2, 2021

The Before I Die NM Festival, being held for the fifth consecutive year in New Mexico, breaks new ground with a combination of in-person/online series of events Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, 2021. The Before I Die Festival concept brings together entertaining and educational elements to start conversations.  Events are designed to prompt baby boomers and their millennial children to plan ahead for end-of-life issues.

Festival in-person events will take place in Albuquerque, pandemic restrictions permitting. Funeral homes and cemeteries in other cities and states may hold one-day events with their attendees joining online virtual events through Zoom.

“The pandemic brought mortality to top-of-mind awareness. The Before I Die Festival helps us to plan ahead for end-of-life issues, while putting the ‘fun’ in funeral planning,” said Gail Rubin, CT, pioneering death educator and coordinator of the festival.

Festival event topics include estate planning, financial planning, obituary writing, downsizing, grief, funerals through history, the “woo-woo” side of death, and other issues. Special events include:

• Visit Historic Fairview Cemetery, established in Albuquerque in 1881, for a special story telling event, “Cemetery Stories: Life, Death and Beyond.”
• Daily Death Cafe conversations about mortality issues and questions, in-person and online.
• Behind the Scenes Tours of funeral homes and cemeteries.
• Lively Panel Discussions by end-of-life experts, both in-person and online. “Millennial Morticians with ABQ Brews” returns to Tractor Brewing’s Wells Park location Nov. 1!
• Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos celebration and workshop to prepare for the holiday.

All events are accessible for a small donation. Videos of in-person sessions and virtual online sessions will be posted to the Before I Die Festival YouTube Channel after the festival. Register through this PayPal form below.

More information about the 2021 Before I Die NM Festival is available at www.BeforeIDieNM.com.

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Festival Sponsors

These companies and organizations make the Before I Die NM Festival possible.

• A Good Goodbye – Gail Rubin puts the “fun” in funeral planning. AGoodGoodbye.com
• Compassion & Choices – offering care and choice at the end of life. CompassionAndChoices.org
• Daniels Family Funerals & Cremations, Fairview Memorial Park, Gabaldon Mortuary, Sandia Memory Gardens and Vista Verde Memorial Park in Albuquerque.
• EstatePros LLC – offering professional dispersal of personal possessions due to a move, illness, or death. EstateProsNM.com
• Final Exit Network – educating about and defending the right to choose at end-of-life. FinalExitNetwork.org
• French Funerals & Cremations and Sunset Memorial Park in Albuquerque.
• GatheringUs – providing in-person and virtual memorial services and online memorial pages. GatheringUs.com
• Keeper – providing hybrid & virtual memorial services and keeping memories alive with online tributes to preserve, celebrate and share life legacies. MyKeeper.com
• Morris Hall PLLC – estate planning attorneys in New Mexico and Arizona. MorrisTrust.com
• Remembering A Life – your guide to honoring a life well lived, from planning a tribute to mourning a loved one. RememberingALife.com
• Retirement Extender® – investment management services with a personalized strategy recommendation based on your needs and objectives. RetirementExtender.com

A portion of the sponsorship proceeds and ticket sales from the Before I Die NM Festival will be donated to 501(c)(3) charitable partner, Historic Fairview Cemetery, established in Albuquerque in 1881. The cemetery is the final resting place of 12,000 individuals, with remarkable stories reflecting the history of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the United States of America. The website is www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org.

The festival is coordinated by Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and the Doyenne of Death®. Festival sponsorship opportunities are still available by calling Gail Rubin at 505-265-7215.