Category Archives: Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos

Day of the Dead 2024 in Mazatlán

Day of the Dead in Mazatlán has been our favorite holiday for over a decade. It is important to many families: cleaning and celebrating at loved one’s graves, making altars to remember our ancestors and friends, visiting the Angela Peralta Theater, and walking in the callejoneada or alley parade. We were a bit worried as right during Day of the Dead we had the transition to our new mayor and city council, so we were not sure who would be directing CULTURA Mazatlán. Fortunately, it’s again our beloved and enormously talented Raul Rico González and his terrific team.

  • This year the crew of the CMA (Centro Municipal de Artes) and CULTURA put together the 150th anniversary of our beloved Angela Peralta Theater with a magnificent homage.
  • We all marveled at the gorgeous colored streamers hanging over Calle Venus, “Calle de los Espíritus” as it’s known among locals, and I tried to capture that magic in my photos.
  • Inside the Angela Peralta Theater, in addition to the ballet and modern dance, the opera, and incredible costumes, we were privileged to view six nine-foot-tall EDIBLE CATRINAS by Luis Antonio Rios (Momo)! The opening of this exposition is tonight, Monday, 4 November, at 7pm in Galería Rubio, so be sure to go check them out this week.
  • Finally, I believe everyone fell in love with the light-up alebrijes or fantastical creatures that ended the alley parade. They were absolutely breathtaking!

You, dear reader, may have noticed that I have not written here since February 5th of this year. Did you miss me? In December Greg and I traveled to Phoenix to help a friend with cancer. She had five cats, and I have slight allergies. Sadly I soon had bronchitis and then pneumonia. Returning home in early January, my doctor gave me a CT scan (thank you, dear cats!) and found what he said was lung cancer! I have never smoked, ever; still common, he told me. On Feb 28th a terrific surgeon removed the largest lobe of my lungs, followed by chemo and targeted therapy. While I was able to photograph the total solar eclipse on April 8th, Day of the Dead is the first time in nine months I’ve had enough energy to even consider attending an event, photographing it, editing the photographs, and writing a blog post. I trust you’ll enjoy it. It’s great to be getting back (I still tire very easily; but I’m good!). I promised Greg I’d only be out two hours, and fortunately I was able to keep my word.

ALTAR TO OUR FRIEND JORGE MEDINA
We left home at 6:30 pm to get to Casa del Caracol by 7 to join family and my book club members at the altar in memory of Jorge Medina, our dear friend and colleague. We worked with Jorge for over 20 years on the Chicken Breakfast and loved him dearly. He died from cancer, so the fact that my diagnosis came at the same time as his passing was personally poignant.

CRÓNICAS DEL TEATRO
We then headed back to the Plazuela and entered the theater at 7:30. This year, the performance was entitled “Crónicas del Teatro” or “History of the Theater.” Hundreds of our Municipal Arts Center students and professionals—dancers, singers, musicians, scenographers, artists, make up and costumers, audio-visual, choreographers, and theater arts made this always-stellar evening possible! I swear it becomes more popular every year! The entrance was also decorated, and the folkloric ballet performed in the kiosk of the Machado, while a percussion ensemble regaled revelers on Calle Niños Heroes. By far my favorite events in the theater were the six huge edible catrinas and the homage to LA MAYA, the famous mazatleca boxer. I read a book on this incredible woman, way ahead of her time, and I was delighted to witness this tribute to her! Click on any image to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

CALLE VENUS / CALLE DE LOS ESPÍRITUS AND OUR GORGEOUS CENTRO HISTÓRICO
Departing the theater we heard the fireworks indicating that the callejoneada was about to begin. I’d promised not to do the three laps front to back of the entire parade as I usually do, so we left the Plazuela out the other side and attempted to go around the parade. Before returning to the car, however, I was hoping to get a photograph of someone dressed as a catrina under the ribbons on Calle Venus. By the time we arrived, the crowds had packed the street. As always, so many of our neighbors and visitors outdid themselves with their costuming and makeup! My favorite were the Xoloitzcuintles (iconic Day of the Dead dogs, painted as skeletons, of course), the young women, the old women, and the families and kids. I guess that’s maybe… everybody? Oops. We are so blessed to live here and be able to enjoy this tradition!

LA CALLEJONEADA
As I was getting waylaid by all the beautiful spectators along Calle de los Espíritus and the way getting there, suddenly the parade appeared! We had no choice but to watch it! This year’s catrina was In.Cre.Di.Ble. Some years they make her just too large and garish. This time she’s still as wide as the alley, and has a lot going on, but not quite so distracting as in some years. I loved photographing the performers as they marched and danced under the streamers. I especially loved the reflections of the colored streamers in the brass instruments!

I trust you have enjoyed viewing some of the pics. I sincerely hope you were able to participate in the festivities. Congratulations to Raul and the entire Cultura Mazatlán and CMA teams, as well as the various dance, art, and music schools involved. ¡Qué lindo es todo lo que hay en Mazatlán!

Alebrijes in Mazatlán!

Fernando Barraza with one of the group’s colibries or hummingbirds

Before the callejoneada (alley crawl or parade) on Wednesday night at 8, be sure to visit the Art Museum to see a beautiful display of cartonería — papier maché catrinas, hummingbirds (messengers between the spirit world and humanity) and alebrijes—those magical, fantastical, enormously colorful and detailed animal creatures from Oaxaca. These gorgeously bright creations will be hanging from that huge tree in the central courtyard of the Art Museum, as well as adorning an altar to departed artists, starting at 7pm Wednesday November 1, 2023. Then on Thursday, November 2, they will move into one of the museum’s galleries, with an inauguration at 4pm.

Adrián Carvajal with his alebrije
María José Rivera with her alebrije
Georgina Rodriguez with her alebrije

These beautiful handmade works are the product of a class taught by Maestro José Guzmán. He had 10-12 students over two months in his workshop at the Art Museum, and each student created at least three works and some people up to five or six. I can’t wait to see them illuminated and displayed!

Also at the Art Museum October 30 – November 1, 2023 is the Festival of Horror in the Arts. It is part of the Sinaloa Cultural Festival.

Festival of Horror in the Arts organizers invite you to join them!

The Art Museum, its altar and alebrije display is #7 on the Callejoneada for Day of the Dead map.

The Dead Will Show You Just How Alive the GZ Really Is!

EXCELLENT New Day of the Dead Event!b2b7db28-2f60-4e33-96cd-446bac619f77Mazatlán is internationally renowned for its Día de Muertos events, especially the callejoneada/alley parade in Centro Histórico (which will take place on Saturday November 2nd this year, Cultura confirms). Many tourists, however, come for a week or more, and locals and snowbirds would enjoy something beyond the main evening. How about fourteen days of cool, fun and traditionally respectful events in the Golden Zone?

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You will be able to take a tour of fourteen Day of the Dead altars in the Zona Dorada,  anytime between October 20th and November 3rd, receiving free gifts, cocktails, and entries to a raffle for terrific prizes that will take place on the afternoon of November 4th. You could alternatively go everyday, visiting the altars of places that have special events that day, and fully immerse yourself in the season. I’ll list the special offers below.

Some of these businesses have done altars for years, but this is the first time they’ve coordinated and expanded their efforts. The participating organizations are very clear that their goal is to honor tradition and gift a terrific event to their customers and the community. The hope is that this event can grow and contribute to putting Mazatlán further in the forefront of Day of the Dead festivities in México.

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So, put your shoes on and get your cameras ready. You’ll learn a lot about making an altar and about the historic personalities of Mazatlán, and it sounds like you can easily get drunk on complimentary beverages and return home with a bag full of swag. Below is a list of the participating locations. Please note that events will take place in the Golden Zone locations of each business:

  1. Señor Frogs Clothing: Altar dedicated to Pedro Infante and María Felix. Gift: Lollipops personalized with the brand. Special offer throughout the duration of the event, while supplies last: With the purchase of 500 pesos of merchandise men may purchase a t-shirt with Pedro Infante as a calavera while women may purchase a t-shirt with María Félix, made special for the occasion for just $149 pesos. Special day Nov. 2.
  2. Michael’s Gallery Giftshop (both Golden Zone locations are participating): Altar dedicated to The Family, all of our beloved family members that we’ve lost. Gift on Oct. 28: A pottery skull to use on your own altar.
  3. F.I.S.H Restaurant: Altar dedicated to Fishermen, who bring us the abundance of the sea. Special offer throughout the duration of the event: 10% off all purchases when you present your altar map. Special day Oct. 27.
  4. Onilikan Artesanal Liqueurs: Altar dedicated to Selena Quintanilla, who, like them, represents two worlds. Gift on Oct. 25: Mulatto cocktail with a base of coffee liqueur. Special offer for the duration of the event: Three for two on everything in the store when you present your altar map.
  5. Marimba Handicrafts and Jewelry: Altar dedicated to Frida Kahlo. Gift on Oct. 29: Complimentary appetizers and margaritas. Special offer for the duration of the event: 15% off everything in the store when you present your altar map.
  6. Mazatlán 4 Sale Real Estate and Art Gallery: Altar dedicated to Francisco Toledo, the Oaxaqueño artist. Gift on Oct. 31: Free margaritas.
  7. Royal Villas Hotel: Altar dedicated to Alfonso Pelayo y Clara Osuna, the hotel’s founders. Gift on Nov. 1: Complimentary hot chocolate and pan de muertos. Special offer for the duration of the event: 15% discount in the restaurant with your altar map.
  8. Rico’s Café: Altar dedicated to The Spirit of Coffee. Coffee has a unique position between life and death, present at births as well as funerals. Gift on Oct. 24: Complimentary pan de muerto filled with chocolate, with hot chocolate or Mexican coffee.
  9. Venados Store Athletic Wear: Altar dedicated to José Alfredo Jimenez, composer of the Corrido de Mazatlán. Gift on Nov. 2: Complimentary beer and tequila shot or candy for the kids.
  10. Inn at Mazatlán Hotel: Altar dedicated to Rigoberto Lewis, legendary Carnavál float designer. Gift on Oct. 30: Complimentary typical candies, hot chocolate and bread, plus a special performance in the lobby at noon.
  11. Panamá Bakery and Restaurant: Altar dedicated to Everyone who has made us who we are. Gift on Nov. 1: Complimentary pan de muerto and other surprises from 6:00 – 8:00 pm.
  12. El Cid Hotels: Altar dedicated to biologist Julio Berdegue, founder of the hotel chain and important player in the development of Sinaloa. Gift on Saturday Oct. 26 from 6:00 pm: Complimentary drinks and canapés in the commercial center of El Moro Tower plus special prizes. Special offer for the duration of the event:  Discounts of 20% in La Concha restaurant when you present your altar map.
  13. Casa Maya: Altar dedicated to Coco, from the Disney film. Gift on Nov. 2: Complimentary shot of mezcal and traditional candy.

When you visit the altars DO NOT FORGET to get a ticket to deposit in the box at each location! There will be terrific prizes from each participating business given out via a drawing to be held on the afternoon of November 4th at 1:00 pm and announced via Facebook Live. The more altars you visit, the more chances you’ll have to win.

I am so proud of this initiative! It unites key players in the Golden Zone, including Rico’s Café, El Cid, Señor Frog’s, Panama, Michael’s Gallery and the Venados Store in an effort to preserve and extend a Mexican tradition valued since prehispanic times. As a member of the foreign press, it also does us proud because it’s an effort led by and including foreign resident business owners (Rico’s, F.I.S.H., Maz4Sale, Onilikan) as well as locals in a quintessentially mazatleco multicultural effort. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

Participating merchants
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Closeup of the decorations at the press confeerence
Closeup of the altar at the press confeerence
Closeup of the altar at the press confeerence
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Marianne from Rico’s and Nicolás from El Cid

Day of the Dead Mazatlán 2018

DSC_0057Mazatlán knows how to put on some of the best parties ever, and I say that with a lot of worldwide experience, not lightly. This year’s Day of the Dead alley parade or callejoneada did not disappoint. Visitors from the interior of the country, elsewhere in Latin America, north of the border and Europe all reported to me thoroughly enjoying themselves and the revelry that is Día de Muertos in our port.

The callejoneada this year was held on November 2nd instead of the traditional 1st, due to the changeover in city government. Thousands attended the annual festivities, which are some of the most exciting and participative in the country. The parade began at 8:30, and there were performances inside the Angela Peralta Theater, as there have been in other recent years.

The alley parade wound through downtown past several traditional altars, and included at least three bands, several dance groups, costumed stilt walkers, and mobile sculptures. As is traditional, families with children were in the majority. It’s my favorite part of this night: seeing multiple generational families in costume enjoying our city and one another!

The callejoneada returned to the Plazuela Machado where several stages were set up with live entertainment till the wee hours. There seemed to be a lower percentage of costumed revelers this year, but the hundreds who dressed upped the game and looked fantastic. Local makeup artists outdid themselves with creativity and color.

New this year was that the parade began at the Plaza República, winding the three blocks to the Machado and then beyond. It gave a bit more breathing room to the official participants before being bombarded with the thousands of spectators who joined in from the Plazuela.

Also new this year were official catrinas that were sponsored, namely, four or so of them sponsored by our beloved Venados baseball team. While they were gorgeous, and this was very cool, it added a commercial element to our traditional alley-winding that I found rather sad.

Sadder still was that for the first time in many years our local Pacífico brewery was apparently not a sponsor. Not only were there no kegs in sight, ruining a joyous local tradition of people handing up their cups, but Indio beer was served in cans, by gruff people lacking the usual joy! Finally, first we lost our traditional donkey cart, which was understandable, but this year we had tuk-tuks! How in the world is that traditional to this part of the world? The beer fiasco was perhaps the most epic fail of the evening, as complaints were heard far and wide over how kodo (cheap) the new administration was; the lines for Pacífico at the Kioskos went nearly around the block, with people choosing to purchase their beer.

Another disappointment was the fact that the organizers have discovered cheap Chinese imports from the likes of Waldo and Sanfri. We were treated to mass-produced skeleton Halloween costumes rather than the gorgeous handmade garments we are so used to, and numerous inflatable plastic decorations and cardboard skulls were to be seen on the stages and posts of the Plazuela, in contrast to the beautiful handmade papier maché artwork from our local art school. I pray this error will not be repeated. Mazatlán’s art scene deserves way better!

The callejoneada for Day of the Dead this year was more Carnaval-like, with dance troops performing routines that lent themselves more appropriate to Fat Tuesday than to Day of the Dead, and one of the wheeled calacas/skeletons lit with lights in a similar manner to a carroza/float in the Carnaval parade. As is usual we did have Carnavál royalty participate. I can vouch that those gorgeous women even look good dead! 😉

My favorite costume was that of my friend Linette: the death of Lady Liberty. While I hope and pray for my birth nation that it is not true, her costume rang too close to home; I appreciated its poignancy.

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Every year we seem to attract more people to this incredible event. It has outgrown the Plaza Machado and especially this year spillover could be seen in Olas Altas and beyond. An important recommendation for next year is to raise the stages higher. With so many people it is nearly impossible for anyone beyond the second row of standing spectators to see what’s going on on stage.

Every restaurant in the Plaza and along the parade route seemed to be sold out. Our group stayed to cenar/eat a late dinner, and when we left about 1:30 am the Plaza was still full of energy. I so enjoy watching how vociferously death sings in the late evening on the Plazuela after the callejoneada.

Day of the Dead remains one of the highlights of Mazatlán’s local cultural scene. It is a jewel in Mexico’s holiday offerings; not the traditional celebrations of Oaxaca or Janitzio, but full of spirit and reflecting our local culture. It is my true hope that some of the missteps this year are due to the fact that the new administration just took over the day before and thus had little time to prepare.

Kudos to the maestros and artists who contributed! Mazatlán is incredibly blessed with your talents and generosity! Day of the Dead in Mazatlán, as Carnavál, is truly a festival of the people!

 

 

Day of the Dead 2016

p1300623Día de los Muertos in Mazatlán is an incredible holiday; one of our favorites. We love creating an altar every year and welcoming our dearly departed back home for a week or so. We enjoy touring the altars around town, and visiting the cemetery to watch families party with their deceased.

Last year I evidently started a new tradition. A couple of girlfriends and I took a makeup class with Johnny Millán and China Sanchez Duarte from the Municipal School of the Arts (post includes full instructions). The following week on the first of November, my friends came over to my house and we painted one another like catrinas, then headed to the parade. Afterwards, we ate dinner and toured the Teatro’s incredible event.

This year, as with most great things in Mazatlán, more girlfriends came over. My niece is in town as is a Japanese friend’s daughter, so they joined in as well. This morning my house looks like a set from The Hangover. Seriously. Champagne and wine glasses, food and bottles everywhere, feathers covering the floor… Click on any photo to enlarge, or to view a slideshow.

With Susie Morgan and her friend

We had a whole lot of fun making each other up, trying not to repeat anything from last year. One cool thing was when we stopped by Curiel to have our group photo taken, they had a large framed photo of the three of us from last year posted proudly outside the shop, beckoning for people to come in. We’re models!

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After this year’s photoshoot, we headed over to the Plazuela, where the festivities were just getting started. My, were we popular! I believe every one of us felt like a movie star. Many of  you dress up, I know, so you know how it feels. It’s still new to us. Locals and tourists alike asked us to take photos with them, it was so much fun. Penny was especially popular. The guy in the photo below asked her for a kiss. 😉 I love how the architecture of Centro Histórico makes callejoneada photos so special.

Penny captured the most attention from the paparazzi
I love this shot!
Yuri, Jeanette and me
The theme this year was The Revolution
Isn’t she lovely?
Local architecture is a highlight of the callejoneada parade
The three jovencitas
Las bellas de la Casa del Caracol celebrating their anniversary
Loved the Chiapan dress!
Gotta get the free beer!
Mom and daughter
Great to see so many friends
With the two Silvias
Asami loved the event
With Susie Morgan and her friend
She was a doll…
China Sanchez Duarte, creator of the spectacular in the theater. Congrats!!!

We had a very nice dinner, probably with many of you sitting nearby. The Plazuela gets so crowded with the thousands of revelers who participate and spectate. It’s a great chance to see loads of friends and visit. Towards the end of the evening we headed over to the theater to tour the “haunted house” they have inside there. It is always such a delight, as the young people from the Municipal School of the Arts recite calaveritas, celebrate the lives of those who have died this year, dance, sing, play music, and act. The wood block prints were also on exhibition, and below you can see photos of a few of those cool works of art. The pan de puerto that was handed out as we exited is particularly delicious.

China Sanchez Duarte, creator of the spectacular in the theater. Congrats!!!

I hope you all enjoyed last night as much as I did. Thanks to my girlfriends for the good time, to Greg for patiently putting up with us all afternoon and for helping me (or leading the) clean up today!