Gail Rubin, The Doyenne of Death®

Announcing the 4th Annual Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival

Sep 9, 2020 | 0 comments

Online Pandemic-Safe Events Taking Place at www.BeforeIDieNM.com

Like many other in-person events impacted by the pandemic, the 4th annual Before I Die New Mexico Festival is going online as a virtual, safe experience. The four days of death-positive conversations and experiences will take place October 30 to November 2, 2020, at www.BeforeIDieNM.com.

Gail Rubin, humorous motivational speaker for hospice
Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®

“Prior to the novel coronavirus, in-person death discussion movements and festivals were sprouting up across the globe. This pandemic has brought mortality issues to top-of-mind awareness, prompting people to learn about death and plan for end-of-life,” said Gail Rubin, CT, pioneering death educator and coordinator of the festival.

The Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival has entertaining and educational elements. These include virtual field trips with prerecorded videos, daily online theater and movie events, book and panel discussions, and much more.

Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival events include:

  • Daily Death Cafe conversations about mortality issues and questions
  • Behind-the-scenes virtual video tours of the Office of the Medical Investigator, funeral homes, cemeteries and other interesting locations
  • Lively panel discussions: “Millennial Morticians with ABQ Brews” (BYOB), “Funeral Directors on Working in Coronavirus Hot Spots,” “Prospects for Medical Aid-in-Dying in New Mexico,” “How COVID-19 Impacts Native American Funerals,” and “Where the Bodies are Buried,” all about cemeteries
  • Daily book discussions with authors on a range of end-of-life topics, such as widowhood, medical aid-in-dying, and dealing with possessions
  • Speakers and workshops on planning ahead, advance healthcare directives, new trends in death care, New Mexico culture around death, and the “woo-woo” sides of life and death
  • Online live theater performances of short one-act plays related to mortality written by Los Alamos playwright Robert Benjamin with follow-up discussions.
  • A VIP Halloween Experience, a Zoom party preceded by a box of Day of the Dead goodies delivered to your home before October 31.

Tickets for Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival events range from one-day passes for $20 to the VIP Experience at $100. Discounts are available through selected Festival sponsors. Tickets are now on sale online here. Learn more about all activities and events at www.BeforeIDieNM.com.

The International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) recognized the 2018 Before I Die New Mexico Festival with their KIP Award for Best Event. The festival is coordinated by Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist, the Doyenne of Death®, speaker and author of three books on planning for end-of-life issues, including A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die.

It Won't Kill You to Discuss Death at Before I Die Festivals

Festival Sponsors

The Before I Die New Mexico Virtual Festival is made possible by:

A portion of the sponsorship proceeds and ticket sales from the Before I Die NM Virtual Festival will be donated to 501(c)(3) charitable partners Fathers Building Futures, making “caskets for a cause” (www.FathersBuildingFutures.com), and Albuquerque’s Historic Fairview Cemetery, est. 1881 (www.HistoricFairviewCemeteryABQ.org).

A portion of sponsorship fees may be tax-deductible as charitable donations. Festival sponsorship opportunities are still available by calling Gail Rubin at 505-265-7215.

A Good Goodbye