Solano Avenue Evening of Remembrance:
A Day of the Dead Celebration

 

Day of the Dead - Pennie & Michael Day of the Dead - Aztecs Day of the Dead - offerings

Last year Berkeley joined other major Bay Area communities with a formal observance of the Mexican memorial celebration known as the Days of The Dead or Dias de los Muertos. This was a milestone in a city that celebrates ethnic diversity in a state dominated by a Latino population. Other observances in neighboring cities such as Oakland that has a celebration each year on International Boulevard, and San Francisco with a similar flare in the Mission District, have both seen larger crowds each year as this distinctly Mexican holiday continues to grow with tremendous popularity.

Dias de los Muertos on Solano Avenue

Dias de los Muertos is usually celebrated each year on November 1st and 2nd. On these days it is believed the dead come from the beyond to visit with the living. Special foods are prepared, breads are baked, and flowers of the season are collected. In many villages processions are made to the cemeteries where family graves are cleaned up and a feast is held along with prayers. All the things that the dead liked while living are offered. It is a time for merriment. The first day of the festival is for the spirit of infants and the second is for the spirits of adults.

The acceptance of Catholicism into Mexican culture introduced a fear of death and Hell that were represented, respectively, by the images of a skeleton and the Devil. Later, at the turn of the 20th century when the tradition of "Calaveras" or satirical reviews became popular which made fun of politicians, traditions, and social or artistic notables, death again was seen to be more of an extension of life than an end to it. This was truer to Mexico's Aztec and Mayan roots. It was at this time the famous engraver, Jose Guadalupe Posada popularized the figure of death in the world of art. His image of the woman known as Catrina, who wears a fancy hat with flowers, is one of the most widely recognizable symbols of Dias de los Muertos.

To find out more about Dias de los Muertos or to purchase items for your own altar or collection, be sure to visit one of these stores. Each offers unique items. Gathering Tribes, 1573 Solano Avenue, 510-528-9038; Casa Oaxaca, 1286 Solano Avenue 510-524-0551.