2025 Before I Die New Mexico Festival
The 2025 Before I Die New Mexico Festival will take place as a one-day event, combined with the Death is Not a Dirty Word Resource Fair. This upbeat gathering is designed to answer questions about end-of-life issues, plan for death and address what happens afterwards.
The Festival and Fair take place on Monday, October 13 (Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day holiday) from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 3701 Carlisle Blvd. NE in Albuquerque, NM. Attendance is free, and donations during online advance registration is most welcome.
Festival/Fair activities include:
- All-day resource fair with a variety of end-of-life related exhibitors eager to answer your questions;
- Panel discussions on Plant Medicine/Psychedelic Therapy, the OMI/Indigent Program in Bernalillo County, and End-of-Life Options;
- A Death Café conversation;
- Affinity tables focused on specific topics;
- Wind Phones for people to talk to their deceased loved ones and pets;
- Mortality Movies TV series continuous showings;
- Music by local band ABQ Skeleton Crew.
Advance registration will provide the link for viewing the panel discussions live on Zoom and for 10 raffle prize tickets at the Fair. The panel discussions will be available on Zoom and recorded for sharing on YouTube after the event. Raffle prizes will be drawn throughout the day at the resource fair. A range of death, funeral and end-of-life education books are free for the taking.
Register for the 2025 Before I Die NM Festival and Death is Not a Dirty Word Resource Fair here. Festival registration ranges from free to $100. Those who register at the $40 level get a copy of the book A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, a snappy T-shirt at the $60 level, and a Death Over Dinner and Mortality Movie Night for $100.
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, the New Mexico Deathcare Network. The New Mexico Deathcare Network is a dedicated collective of holistic deathcare professionals committed to providing compassionate, integrative, and personalized end-of-life care. As a nonprofit, they provide financial assistance for non-medical, holistic end-of-life care services, including death doulas, grief support, and spiritual advisement. Through donations, they help ensure that individuals in financial need have access to these compassionate resources, offering comfort, guidance, and community support during their journeys.
Before I Die NM Festival Sponsors
Thank you to these sponsors who make the Before I Die New Mexico Festival possible!
French Funerals & Cremations: French Funerals & Cremations has proudly served the Albuquerque and Rio Rancho communities for more than 118 years, offering compassionate guidance through times of loss and grief. With five convenient locations, they’re committed to providing exceptional care at every step. Their full continuum of services—including the Cremation Society of New Mexico and Best Friends Pet Cremation—helps ease the burden of loss and supports families in honoring their loved ones in the most personal and meaningful ways.
Passages International: Passages International is committed to providing sustainable and eco-friendly funeral products with which families can create modern, meaningful and healing experiences to remember a departed loved-one. Whether you are interested in a more natural burial or cremation, want to scatter in a sentimentally meaningful location such as a beloved back-country ski trail, or on a surfers’ “paddle out,” Passages has the products to create that once-in-a-life-time farewell.
Bosque Trails Hospice: Bosque Trails Hospice is a locally owned and operated hospice agency that was founded by experienced Albuquerque area practitioners with over 30 years of collective hospice experience. With Bosque Trails Hospice, our goal is to provide the greater Albuquerque area with the absolute best personalized hospice care available.
End of Life Options New Mexico: End of Life Options New Mexico is a nonprofit organization that provides resources, education and information and support for all end-of-life options, including medical aid in dying (MAID) and voluntary stopping eating and drinking (VSED).
Zoom support is provided by Keeper, which provides online memorials that celebrate your loved one’s memory.
First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living.
Festival coordinators are Jane Westbrook, Gail Rubin and Ramsey Lofton. Interested in being a sponsor? Contact:
- Gail Rubin, PH: 505-265-7215, Email: Gail@agoodgoodbye.com or
- Jane Westbrook, PH: 505-400-1545, Email: jawesty74@yahoo.com
Fair coordinators are Nikki Neuen, Danielle Slupesky, Brooke Nutting and Kelly Saindon. Interested in getting a vendor table at the fair? Contact Nikki — PH: 505-221-6671, Email: Nikki@bonnemori.com.
