Day of the Dead 2019: how did Mexican organize this year holiday?

The Day of the Dead has everything to do with the afterlife, you’ve seen love and colorful skulls around.

Día de los Muertos, also known as the Day of the Dead, is a holiday celebrated in Mexico to commemorate the death of their loved ones. It is a two-day holiday held on November 1 and November 2 and has nothing to do with Halloween. It is an omen for the afterlife and a reminder that death has nothing to fear. Some traditions include cleaning and decorating a grave, setting up an altar, decorating skulls and sharing stories, all to honor the people they have passed away.

In many parts of Mexico, great parades and festivals are held to honor the dead. This tradition is also held annually throughout the regions of Central and South America.

“When you are lost, pain comes,” said Lourdes Valverde, the organizer of the Day of the Dead at Bentonville Public Library and the Native American History Museum (MONAH), as she put her hand up. breasts, “and you don’t want to talk about that person because it’s too hard! And then with this traditionally, you can talk about the people you love.”

Artisan making colorful sugar skulls

Skull is a powerful symbol in Aztec culture, and some are used to honor Mictecacihuatl, the goddess of death. To celebrate the holiday, artisans spend hours turning sugar, hot water, and lime into a caramel-like sugar mixture that they cast into skull-shaped dishes of all sizes.

These dishes were then decorated with icing, multicolored foil and sometimes feathers. Calaveritas are largely edible, but people mostly use them to decorate their altars.

Everyone carefully built the altar for the dead

Colorful multi-level memorials built in homes, schools and public places as a tribute to loved ones who have died. The different levels represent the underworld, the Earth, and heaven.

A large photo of the deceased is usually placed at the top of the altar with picado papel. Sugar skulls, candles, pan de muerto (bread of the dead) and Mexican marigolds are displayed throughout the altar.

The pungent scent and bright colors of the fresh marigold petals mean to guide the souls to their altar, and the glass of water is convenient to quench the thirst of the dead after a long journey.

Ofrendas (offerings), as the altars are called, are carefully assembled using many traditional elements, but each of them is unique. They can be personalized with favorite foods of the dead, mementos from their lives and their favorite items. Some altars have books, jewelry, music and clothing on display.

Crowds flock to the cemetery

People flock to cemeteries during the holidays to visit the graves of dead relatives and friends. But they have no funeral or empty hands.

After cleaning the tombs and gravestones, some decorate them with flowers, marigold petals and light candles. While some people pray in silence, others pray for their deceased loved ones with mariachis.

People find their way to the graves every year to keep the memories of the deceased alive in the hearts and minds of their family members. They share stories, drink and eat together as if it were a party.

The skeleton goes between life

People march on the streets with beautiful skulls painted on their faces and wear costumes in memory of Día de los Muertos.

Women often painted faces, wearing elegant dresses and hats decorated with feathers and flowers. They are actually evoking La La Larina, a wealthy skeleton woman in a fancy floral hat. The image, sketched by Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada in 1910, is the political satire that mocked the upper Mexican elite and their negative attitude towards indigenous peoples.

Crowds dance in fun parades held during the day in many cities, or march together en route to the cemetery on Halloween night.