Dia de los Muertos

(click to enlarge-can you find me?)

Ah, the kiddo is having an early nap, the hubby is off to an important meeting, the dishwasher is loaded and I am FINALLY getting to post about the wonderful Dia de los Muertos celebration we went to on Saturday.

When we first moved out to California, one of the first things I looked into was finding a Day of the Dead celebration. I happened upon www.ladayofthedead.com and I was so excited because Lila Downs was the featured performer. I immediately put the date into the calendar and I began counting down the days.

October 24 finally rolled around and we loaded up the car with the kid and the camera (and stroller, and ergo baby carrier, and sippy cups...) and we headed down to Santa Monica Boulevard (sans Sheryl Crow song). Traffic was horrible, what else is new, but we were armed with parking garage information. The line at the front of Hollywood Forever was LONG, but fortunately our parking garage was around the corner, and coincidentally next to a sneaky side entrance! Okay, not that sneaky, but FYI if you plan to go next year, enter on the Gower street entrance--the line was non-existent, whereas the line on Santa Monica was running upwards of an HOUR. Okay, enough with the PSA.

We arrived right around 4 pm, when the festivities began, and were greeted by the Xocoyote, which is a ceremonial Aztec blessing. The headdresses were unbelievable, and the drums just spoke to your core. My son did not stop dancing the entire time were were there!!

Lots of people dressed up, there were face painting booths, artisans selling their wares, sugar skulls, tons of dancing, art exhibits, yummy yummy food (my husband went a little overboard and happily arrived to our blanket bearing tacos, tamales, corn, horchata, beer and churros), and of course, the altars. There were hundreds of altars. They ranged from the traditional, to contemporary art exhibits, to political statements. You can see a few from my photo collage above. We were happily surprised that our little boy was not frightened by any of the people in costume--he joyously waved to anyone that passed by.

We were able to keep our little guy entertained until about 7pm, and then we had to high-tail it home. As we were leaving hundreds and hundreds of people were just arriving, so I think we timed it out pretty well. Lila Downs did not go on until 9:15 pm, so sadly, I did not get a chance to see her perform. There are plenty of clips on youtube, of course.

The whole experience was one of sensory overload: cloying scent of incense from the altars mingling with the sharp smell of grilling meat for tacos-the vivid colors of the marigolds and paper mache skulls juxtaposed with the stark painted-on skulls of passers-by. People (or ghosts!) drifting by in costume, solemn stares, children dancing, ATM machines blipping, flashes from cameras, and always drumming drumming drumming surrounds you.

For more information on the traditions of Day of the Dead, click here and here.