A Canterbury "death café" is serving up coffee with a side of morbid conversation this week, as part of an initiative helping Kiwis open up about the inevitable.
Dying Matters week kicks off today for its third year, with hundreds of events across the country opening up conversations about death.
The annual event runs from September 7 to 13, featuring more than 200 online and in-person events about death, dying, grief and end-of-life planning.
"It's letting a bit of light into this topic that, for lots of reasons, we have attached a bit of fear to over the years," said event organiser Katy Mandeno.
"What we see is actually that people want to have the conversations, they just haven't necessarily had the opportunity or the space."
In Canterbury, Melanie Mayell hosts the Death Cafe, where people can discuss the topic over a cup of coffee.
"We only talk about death related things.
"I know that sounds like a recipe for disaster but in all the years I've been doing it I always come away feeling so inspired," she said.
She said she had noticed that what started as a seemingly morbid event left people feeling "a lot lighter".
Cherie Hames from Hawkes Bay Coffin Club said while people could be afraid of the topic, death was a "part of life and we kind of have to embrace it".
"You need to have a little more control over what you want for your end of life, for what you want for your final bedroom," she said.
Mandeno said a plan for this year's event was to curate the "ultimate funeral playlist", with the top 10 songs to be released on Spotify at the end of the week.
"We've been asking for contributions for the last couple of weeks and the list is huge, we've got hundreds of songs in there," she said.
SHARE ME