In Mexico, Halloween isn't as big of a deal as El Dia de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. Lucky for us, the Mesa Arts Center put on a fantastic festival to celebrate the occasion and we spent Halloween afternoon enjoying the festivities.
El Dia de los Muertos is a holiday that celebrates the lives of our ancestors, and is supposed to be very uplifting. It's like our Memorial Day, and people go to gravesites and honor their dead. There is a lot of folk art involved, and most of it has to do with skulls and skeletons which is quite frankly, pretty darn morbid.
Jose and Clark and I each painted a skull necklace and decorated a sugar skull, something Jose hadn't done since he was a kid. We had a great time. I don't think we've ever done anything like that together before. And the painting was a first for Clark. And he loved it.
The main tradition is to build an altar to your beloved deceased family member. Then you place things on the altar that reminds you of that person. The offerings are mostly food, candles, booze and flowers, especially marigolds. When Jose was a kid, he'd sneak in during the night and eat the desserts because he figured his dead grandparents wouldn't care! I didn't notice until after I took this picture that I wasn't supposed to take a picture of it. So. Nobody reproduce this one for profit, okey dokey?! There was a altar building contest and one of the winners made an altar with pictures of organ donors covering it; there were men, women and children. The little ones got to me. I'm a boob and I cried.
Besides the skulls and altars, they had a mariachi band, tons of vendors and some folkdancers. We had a great time. Clark loved the dancing and the music. It was so cute to watch him tap his toes along with the music. I just wish he'd learn how to sit still and smile for the camera sometime soon!
In Mexico, Halloween isn't as big of a deal as El Dia de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead. Lucky for us, the Mesa Arts Center put on a fantastic festival to celebrate the occasion and we spent Halloween afternoon enjoying the festivities.
El Dia de los Muertos is a holiday that celebrates the lives of our ancestors, and is supposed to be very uplifting. It's like our Memorial Day, and people go to gravesites and honor their dead. There is a lot of folk art involved, and most of it has to do with skulls and skeletons which is quite frankly, pretty darn morbid.
Jose and Clark and I each painted a skull necklace and decorated a sugar skull, something Jose hadn't done since he was a kid. We had a great time. I don't think we've ever done anything like that together before. And the painting was a first for Clark. And he loved it.
The main tradition is to build an altar to your beloved deceased family member. Then you place things on the altar that reminds you of that person. The offerings are mostly food, candles, booze and flowers, especially marigolds. When Jose was a kid, he'd sneak in during the night and eat the desserts because he figured his dead grandparents wouldn't care! I didn't notice until after I took this picture that I wasn't supposed to take a picture of it. So. Nobody reproduce this one for profit, okey dokey?! There was a altar building contest and one of the winners made an altar with pictures of organ donors covering it; there were men, women and children. The little ones got to me. I'm a boob and I cried. 
Besides the skulls and altars, they had a mariachi band, tons of vendors and some folkdancers. We had a great time. Clark loved the dancing and the music. It was so cute to watch him tap his toes along with the music. I just wish he'd learn how to sit still and smile for the camera sometime soon!
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