XI.Festival del Dia de Muertos

The Day Of The Dead and the preceding Day Of The Little Angels are the time of the year when Mexicans celebrate in honour of their deceased family members, loved ones and friends.

As far as my poor half-knowledge goes, the origins of the modern holidays trace back thousands of years to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl - Queen of Mictlan, the underworld, ruling over the afterlife with Mictlantecuhtli, another deity and her husband. Back then the month of August was the time for those celebrations. The Spanish conquistadors and christian missionaries in their attempts to eradicate Aztec culture succeeded but partly and their superimposed catholic holiday substitutes - All Saints and All Souls Day - were finally altered incorporating indigenous traditions to what in Mexico became the Dia de los Angelitos and the Dia de los Muertos. Consult Wikipedia for more detailed information.

The first day is dedicated to the children while the second focuses on deceased adults, and — very unlike the serious, mournful western version — here they are rather joyful festivities.

Belief has it, on these days the souls of the dead can ascent from the underworld to visit this our world and so people present them with their former favourite drink and food or toys and sweets for children, sometimes displayed on special-made altars.

There'd be picnics at the cemeteries, music and laughter, anecdotes from the dead's life shared.
To me it appears more to be a celebration of past and present life instead of solely bemoaning it's finiteness and loss.

I like that.

La Paz organised the XI. Festival De Dia De Muertos in front of the city's theatre, featuring an interesting mix of folklore, music and performances. The square was lined by altars of different themes, of which some would be voted to receive prices later on. The second competition was the one of the Catrinas - gorgeous skeleton ladies wearing the most elegant dresses. In the twilight the morbid beauties would ghostly roam amongst the crowd, and people just love to have themselves or their children photographed next to them.

There were concerts and theatre performances and one highlight was the group Ometeotl in their elaborate costumes, playing traditional instruments while showing ancient Aztec dances.

The scenery became most impressive after sunset when the altar stalls lit up with candles and the huge crosses and arcs of marigolds decorating the stage shone in blazing orange. The Catrinas' dresses and Ometeotl dancer's feather costumes mixed into this, creating an intense symphony of colours. The buzz of the crowd was competing with the sound of music from huge speakers. Vendors offered a variety of treats, food and drink, I had two tamales, a super-burrito and a cup of chocolate de Oaxaca. Needless to say I felt rather stuffed afterwards.

Only few gringos were around, but the locals made up for the shortage of tourists by happily snapping away with their cellphones and cameras introducing more "lightning" than your average thunderstorm, also helping me to overcome my usual reluctance to take photos of strangers. So we all had a jolly good time until the festival reached its climax and the crowd slowly dispersed afterwards.

When afterwards I walked "home" through the mild and peaceful night, the dimly lit streets were pleasantly quiet, making me even more aware of all those colours and sounds and flavours reverberating in my head...