For years Raquel Armenta went to Placita Olvera with her mother and now she maintains the same tradition with her daughter.
The two went to celebrate the Day of the Dead on Friday and Armenta wrote a letter to her mother as part of the “Letters to Heaven” that was available to send messages to deceased loved ones.
“My mother recently passed away and it hurts me even more to remember her love and support, she was a big part of our family,” Armenta explained with tears in her eyes. “Even though we don’t have his physical presence, we have his love and the memories.”
For four decades, the merchants of Olvera Street have celebrated the Day of the Dead and today the celebration incorporates pre-Columbian, Aztec, Mayan and Catholic rituals around death, according to the Foundation of the Association of Merchants of the Olvera Street (OSMAF).
On Olvera Street, the Day of the Dead is celebrated with a nine-day festival with a procession each night, community altars and of course other forms of entertainment to celebrate.
Today, November 2, will be the last day of the festival where people will be able to enjoy a variety of activities starting at 11 in the morning until 9 at night.
Some of the activities include: face painting by artist Kahlovera, enjoying the dance performed by Ballet Folklorico Santa Mónica, seeing the diversity of community altars on display and El Teatro del Barrio which tells the story of the Day of the Dead with its indigenous roots and the transformation to our modern celebrations among other activities.
Sergio Serdio, director of the Teatro del Barrio group, has been part of the performances on Olvera Street during the Day of the Dead for 17 years.
“It is the way to honor our family members, our spirits that have gone ahead along the way and it is important because it gives you a certain spirituality, but above all it gives you a lot of pride in being who you are, the immigrant that you are in these times that are so difficult. ”Serdio said.
According to Serdio, his group presents the Dance of Death that is traditional during the novena and during the performances they invite the audience to participate to create a truly welcoming atmosphere.
Today the community will be able to enjoy the novena procession, which begins at 7 pm, and they will be able to see the Tartalejos, which is an indigenous Aztec group that leads the procession with incense and ceremonial blessing, Aztec dancers and “Living Dead” who are participants dressed as skeletons.
In addition, people present will also receive free sweet bread and drinks.
Lexi Zaragoza arrived in downtown Los Angeles in the morning with the goal of celebrating the Dodgers parade, but she and her family ended up celebrating the Day of the Dead.
The young woman, who had half her face painted as Catrina, shared that she recently got a tattoo that was a hand made of bones holding a marigold flower.
Although Zaragoza has not lost a loved one, he always thinks about his grandparents and says he will miss them when they pass away.
“I think the Day of the Dead is a special time to reconnect with our loved ones and I know that day will come for me, but for now I will enjoy my grandparents as much as I can,” Zaragoza said.
According to the Government of Mexico website, in the celebration of the Day of the Dead, death does not represent an absence but a living presence.
On altars, death is a symbol of life and it is a celebration that carries great popular significance since it includes various meanings, from philosophical to material.
It is recognized that the origin of the celebration is found in the harmony between the celebration of Catholic religious rituals brought by the Spanish and the commemoration of the Day of the Dead that the indigenous people have carried out since pre-Hispanic times, according to the Government of Mexico.