Besides the vibrant folk art inspired by
Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday honoring departed loved ones, I've never partaken in the many celebrations. This year the time came to finally experience an L.A. annual institution of
Dia de los Muertos at the legendary
Hollywood Forever cemetery.
It may appear strange that hordes of Angelenos spend days and nights at the cemetery, however, this venue regularly hosts very enjoyable events including film screenings throughout the year. And this particular event with rainbow colors and festivity evokes far more joy than any amount of sadness.
A couple of friends and I decided to meet there during the earliest entrance window of 12-4:00 p.m. with the ability to leave any time. I knew we'd miss a lot of the interesting crowds that show up at night, but skipping the crowds ranked up high in my criteria.
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| resident peacocks |
Being there in the afternoon yielded strong sunlight and sunburn. On the other hand it also gave us a chance to witness altar assembly, have great lighting for photos and when late afternoon arrived we saw our share of the lively visitors starting to stream in for the after dark celebrations.
Essentially the four key visual components are the private altars, processions, art (on the grounds) and most importantly - the people.
Altars
The altars offer family and friends their favorite foods, sugar skulls, sacred marigolds and other personal mementos or possessions of their earthly lives. These tributes displayed amazing creativity and love.
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| Alice in Wonderland altar |
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| Johnny and Deedee Ramone altars |
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| interactive altar |
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| grand entrance |
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| beautiful tribute to grandparents |
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| Hello Kitty supporting cancer |
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| interactive altar with Loteria cards |
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| burning sage, fresh coconut refreshment, baked offerings at altar |
Processions
The holiday apparently originates from the indigenous Aztec festivals, which explained the beautiful Aztec dances and processions throughout the event.
Several sets of stilt walkers navigated the grass.
Frankly it was hard to tell who was part of the procession or were guests joining in. That made it more exciting.
Art
As I mentioned, the folksy artwork always spoke to me. In addition to the altars, the grounds consisted of its fair share of characters, statues, art for sale, booths with goods to purchase and activities.
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the scale of these people indicate how large the figures are, on the same wall
films get proejcted during screenings |
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| the large masoleum contained altars and artwork on display |
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| one of many face painting booths |
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| LACMA art booth for children |
People
What makes this event are the people, who really brought everything into it. It encouraged most of my friends to engage in face painting and perhaps tempted us to dress up all the way next time.
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| my favorite photo of the day, unstaged |
Skulls, called
calaveras in Mexico, are the most iconic symbol of this holiday. Pulling from Aztec traditions as well as Spanish Catholic All Saints Day festivals, the skeleton motifs positively symbolize rebirth and higher levels of consciousness, including overcoming fear of death.
It also gives license for some partying and mischievous behavior, but the intention is different from the Halloween spooky themes.
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| one of the few smiling characters |
People were so kind about posing for photos and giving face. In many of the altar shots the family posed to complete the setting, if you could catch them at the right time.
Overall, the experience uplifted and entertained and it may just become an annual activity.
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