Nov 2 – Day of The Dead Celebration in South Florida

By Araceli Villanueva

I decided to write this holiday blog and (and so divert a little from the real estate and financial world) to talk about this cultural festivity which is getting to be known and promoted around the world. It is a Mexican and other Latin American countries celebration where we honor our beloved ones departed before us.

This is a tradition pre-colombina which is a fusion between aztec ritual to the dead and the Catholic influence by the conquistadores who brought the All Saints Day on Nov 1st. It is believed that our loved ones come back home to be reunited with their families, so we put their favorite food, drinks or likes in an altar with their pictures and of course pan de muerto (bread of the dead) which is a delicious sweet bread with millennial years recipe.

We also have a parade where we dress up like skeletons or catrinas and also go to the graves of our beloved ones, decorate them and spend the night with them playing their favorite music, mariachi songs, etc. It may sound creepy but it is not, the festivity is a happy melancholic one and is nothing but scary, to the contrary its colorful, its beautiful as we let our beloved ones they have not been forgotten.

Please see below some pictures of the festivity in Ft Lauderdale where for 6 yrs they have been celebrating it, but this 2015 November 2nd was officially named in Ft Lauderdale “The Day of the Dead” and the parade and festivities have become an official event at the city. Thanks to an American who felt in love with this Mexican tradition when he went to Mexico for this day, Jim Hannon… thank you for bringing this beautiful Mexican tradition to South Florida. Enjoy the pictures and videos coming soon with the presentation of the event and some folkloric shows. Remember this is every November 2nd!

More info about this festivity in Ft Lauderdale at: www.dayofthedeadflorida.com