Dia de Los Muertos: Dancing with the Dead

Anne Sivley | Foghorn Staff

A dreary Halloween weekend came to a vibrant ending in the Mission district October 24th. Thousands of people congregated at 24th and Bryant to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos (or Day of the Dead for us gringos). The crowd was incredibly eclectic, as people of all cultures and races have embraced the traditional Mexican celebration. Young children and old couples mixed in among beer-toting twentysomethings. Many were dressed in bright, traditional garb with faces painted like Misfit-esque skeletons. Orange marigolds and flickering candles illuminated the motley crowd.

Costumes ranged from the basic black and white face paint to much more intricate attire. Both women and men could be found wearing shimmering headdresses and flowing gowns. A person in a full prosthetic skeleton costume acted out little scenes with the passing crowd. Some toted incense and instruments, while others silently held photographs of those they came to celebrate.

A brief series of speakers took to the small stage around 7:00 pm. The speakers described how the festival has grown from just a few hundred people in the first year to the roughly 15,000 participants in this year’s 26th annual celebration. The crowd was led in a chant facing each cardinal direction, invoking the spirits that we honored. After brief encouragement to vote for Obama and against Prop. 8, the procession took off.

An ensemble of drummers dressed all in white set out the rhythm for the procession. Residents leaned out windows and watched from porches as we made or way down 25th. The crowd took a brief dance break in the middle of South Van Ness, with whistles blaring and maracas shaking. As we rounded the corner of 25th and Mission, past the Mission Cultural center, the procession grew into a sort of latino Lovefest. Walking and dancing, with the borrachos a little more enthusiastic than the rest of us, we truly celebrated the dead.

Our path looped around 24th and ended at Garfield Park. Here, celebrants set up altars for their loved ones. They strung hundreds of prayers to the between trees, with candles and flowers below. The boisterous procession ended relatively solemnly as participants took time to visit the various altars.

The popularity of this lively celebration clearly indicates that traditional Mexican culture is alive and well in San Francisco.