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DISPLAY The staff at the Watsonville Public Library’s Main Branch created this altar at the entrance to the library as part of Dia de los Muertos.
Photos by Tarmo Hannula
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HOLIDAY TREAT Workers at Ricarmi Panadería y Pastelería, 11 East Fifth St. in Watsonville, are busy making “dead bread” as part of Dia de los Muertos. ADDING COLOR Ana Ruvalcaba, owner of Ruvalcaba Nursery on San Miguel Canyon Road in Royal Oaks, includes marigolds in her array of flowers for sale at the Watsonville Certified Farmers’ Market to align with Dia de los Muertos.
IN THE SPIRIT Trinkets and other goods reflecting Dia de los Muertos are popular items for sale at the Watsonville Certified Farmers’ Market.
Tarmo Hannula
CELEBRATION OF THE DEAD
Mexican tradition in full swing around the Pajaro Valley
By TARMO HANNULA
ay of the Dead, or Día de
Dlos Muertos, celebrations are underway around the Pajaro Valley as a continuum of a long-standing Mexican tradition.
The holiday, celebrated on the 1st and 2nd of November, originated in Mexico, but is also recognized in other spots, especially by people of Mexican heritage.
Day of the Dead typically involves family and friends who gather, often at area cemeteries, to pay respect and to remember the dead.
Traditions include honoring the deceased with skeleton facsimiles, skulls, music and altars that feature favorite foods and other attractions of the deceased.
In Watsonville some vendors at the Certified Farmers’ Market continue the tradition by offering freshly harvested marigolds, trinkets and clothes reflecting Dia de los Muertos themes.
Though the celebration honors the dead, it also includes gift giving to friends, that include candy sugar skulls or pan de muerto (dead bread).
The owners of Ricarmi Panadería y Pastelería in Watsonville have taken steps to bake traditional dead bread.
On Oct. 29, the Watsonville Film Festival will feature its Dia de los Muertos event in Watsonville Civic Plaza. Arts and crafts activities, dance performances, and more are on deck for the day that gets started at 4pm.
