{"id":8652,"date":"2015-10-19T07:59:33","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T13:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/?p=8652"},"modified":"2015-10-19T07:59:33","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T13:59:33","slug":"ofrendas-catrinas-and-candy-skulls-day-of-the-dead-in-los-cabos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/ofrendas-catrinas-and-candy-skulls-day-of-the-dead-in-los-cabos\/","title":{"rendered":"Ofrendas, Catrinas, and Candy Skulls: Day of the Dead in Los Cabos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo live in hearts we leave behind is not to die,\u201d\u00a0wrote the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell, a sentiment echoed in one of M\u00e9xico\u2019s most notable public holidays, D\u00eda de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead<\/a>)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Mi<\/a>

La Calavera Catrina, a character created by famed illustrator Jos\u00e9 Guadalupe Posada, has become one of the images most commonly associated with the Day of the Dead. Image courtesy of Mi Casa Restaurant in Cabo San Lucas.<\/p><\/div>\n

Officially celebrated on November 2 in M\u00e9xico and much of the Latin American world, Day of the Dead is actually observed over several days, coinciding with the Catholic festival of Allhallowtide: All Hallows\u2019 Eve (Oct. 31, the day celebrated as Halloween in the U.S.), All Saints\u2019 Day (Nov. 1, known as D\u00eda de los Inocentes or D\u00eda de los Angelitos in M\u00e9xico, and the day when the souls of children return to visit), \u00a0and All Souls\u2019 Day (Nov. 2, \u00a0D\u00eda de los Muertos, when the souls of adults return).<\/p>\n

This was not always so. The Aztecs held a similar festival each August, dedicated to Mictecacihuatl,<\/strong>\u00a0queen of the underworld. But like many Pre-Colombian religious observances, it became syncretized during the colonial period.<\/p>\n

In modern times, Mexicans will often visit the gravesites of deceased relatives during this period, or make\u00a0ofrendas<\/em>, \u201cofferings\u201d on small altars in their homes or in public places to honor the departed. The altars are often adorned with food or drinks favored by the lost loved one, as well as things like candles, photos,\u00a0calaveras de az\u00facar<\/em>\u00a0(candies in the shape of skulls),\u00a0pan de muerto<\/em>\u00a0(special Day of the Dead bread ) and\u00a0cempas\u00fachil\u00a0 <\/em>flowers (Aztec marigolds).\u00a0Catrina\u00a0figures, female skeletons dressed in elaborately colorful costumes, are also a common sight during Day of the Dead celebrations, as well as being big sellers in many souvenir stores.<\/p>\n

\"IdaVic\"<\/a>

Ofrendas, or altars filled with offerings to lost loved ones, often feature traditional items such as candles, photos, calaveras de az\u00facar (candies in the shape of skulls), and cempas\u00fachil flowers (Aztec marigolds). Image courtesy of Galer\u00eda de Ida Victoria.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although Day of the Dead remembrances date to M\u00e9xico\u2019s Pre-Hispanic past, La Catrina is a more recent phenomenon. Created by illustrator Jos\u00e9 Guadalupe Posada, whose figure of an elegantly clad female skeleton was meant to satirize Mexicans with pretensions to European gentility, Catrina first appeared between 1910 and 1913. Diego Rivera\u2019s famous 1948 mural Sue\u00f1o de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central\u00a0<\/em>helped popularize the Catrina figure, and in the intervening years she has become a symbolic, iconographic representation of D\u00eda de los Muertos, and indeed death itself.<\/p>\n

Los Cabos<\/a> visitors interested in viewing traditional altars will want to go to San Jos\u00e9 del Cabo\u2019s historic Distrito del Arte<\/a><\/em>, which kicks off its seasonal Art Walk season each year with an Art and Altars Exhibition in honor of Day of the Dead.\u00a0 Art Walk itself resumes on Oct. 29 \u2013 on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m., locals and visitors are invited to sip wine, stroll the neighborhood\u2019s charming cobblestone streets, and peruse paintings and other fine art at local galleries \u2013 and ofrendas<\/em> will be displayed, along with work from featured artists, at participating galleries through Nov. 2. At Galer\u00eda de Ida Victoria<\/a> for example (whose altar from last year is pictured above right), an ofrenda<\/em> will share space with new work from award-winning U.S. realist painter Misty Martin.<\/p>\n

\"Panchos\"<\/a>

Pancho\u2019s, a specialist in traditional Mexican cuisine, is celebrating Day of the Dead with four days of food and drink specials.<\/p><\/div>\n

Flora Farm, best known as the home of benchmark farm-to-table restaurant Flora\u2019s Field Kitchen, will also be showcasing altars from local artists\u202615 of them, to be exact. Visitors can vote on their favorites \u2013 an altar unveiling will take place on Friday, Oct. 30 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. \u2013 with prize money for the \u201cmost original\u201d and \u201cmost traditional\u201d altars donated to the respective artist\u2019s charity of choice.<\/p>\n

Calavera<\/em> connoisseurs, meanwhile, will want to make reservations at Mi Casa<\/a> in Cabo San Lucas, which in addition to showcasing authentic regional cuisine from around Mexico, also has one of the finest local collections of Catrina figurines. And Pancho\u2019s<\/a>, another specialist in traditional cuisine, is offering four days of food and wine specials to coincide with Day of the Dead festivities, including discounts on samplers from what is thought to be the world\u2019s largest tequila collection, with over 560 labels represented.<\/p>\n

Such spots are highly recommended as an introduction to public, material manifestations of El D\u00eda de los Muertos in Los Cabos. But one need not shop for Catrinas or sugary skulls to participate in the spirit of the holiday. All you have to do is think of those people in your life who have passed, and remember how much they meant to you. And, if you have a photograph of them handy, you can set it on a nearby table, perhaps with a few \u00a0cempas\u00fachil\u00a0<\/em> flowers, and maybe even some carnitas<\/em> and Coca-Cola to refresh them. For they are with us still.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTo live in hearts we leave behind is not to die,\u201d\u00a0wrote the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell, a sentiment echoed in one of M\u00e9xico\u2019s most notable public holidays, D\u00eda de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead). Officially celebrated on November 2 in M\u00e9xico and much of the Latin American world, Day of the Dead is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1412,1071,1057,21,1409,1070,1408,1407,1414,1415,42,1410,51,1413,1411,622,112],"class_list":["post-8652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-altars","tag-art-walk","tag-baja-california-sur","tag-cabo-san-lucas","tag-catrina","tag-day-of-the-dead","tag-dia-de-los-inocentes","tag-dia-de-los-muertos","tag-flora-farm","tag-galeria-de-ida-victoria","tag-los-cabos","tag-marigolds","tag-mexico","tag-mi-casa","tag-ofrendas","tag-panchos","tag-san-jose-del-cabo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8652"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8661,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652\/revisions\/8661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loscabosguide.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}