Yesterday was All Saints' Day (aka All Hallows' Day), which celebrates all the saints of the Christian church. And today is All Souls' Day, "a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed." Today is also the Mexican holiday known as Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, which is a much less somber event, featuring family and friends gathering to pay respects to and remember family members who have passed away, often featuring ceremonies and processions involving people dressed as Catrins (skeletons) and Catarinas (elegantly dressed female skeletons). My favorite Dia de los Muertos celebration takes place this Friday night at the First Friday Art Walk in Denver's Santa Fe Art District. And keeping with tradition, between 7:00 and 8:00 P.M. there will be a community procession, with many if not most of the participants dressed as Catrins and Catarinas. If you are in Denver Friday night, don't miss it. Here in South Florida, Fort Lauderdale is hosting its 2nd annual Downtown Day of the Dead, which will be held along its famous Riverwalk, with a festival at Esplanade Park starting at 3:00 P.M. and a stroll along the Riverwalk starting at 6:00. Last year I attended the festival part of the event, which, as I recall, was not all that interesting, but missed the Riverwalk stroll. I definitely intend to make it to that Riverwalk stroll this year. My problem with the festival part of the event last year was that there were so few people in costume, although while there I was still able to take the photograph of the couple in the photograph on the left, two of the few dressed for the occasion. Hopefully there will be many more people in costume during the stroll on Saturday. Be there or be square, as we hipsters always say.
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