San Angelo Celebrates El Dia de los Muertos

El Dia de los Muertos is Spanish for Day of the Dead. San Angelo celebrated the Mexican tradition Thursday night at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Behind the museum on a long concrete stairway, attendees were invited to leave personal shrines to memorialize loved ones who had died in years past. Outside on the patio, Ballet Azteca, a traditional Folklorico dance group performed. Shortly afterwards, the Lincoln Middle School Mariachi Band entertained an audience of between 100-200 people.

Angelo State University’s Multicultural Center and ASU’s Natural History Club were front and center, offering all a chance to paint a traditional facemask.

El Dia de los Muertos was a tradition in southern and central Mexico that has since been adopted across Mexico as a national holiday. The official El Dia de los Muertos is Nov. 2, according to Paul Conklin’s “Death Takes a Holiday” article in U.S. Catholic Magazine.  The holiday incorporates Christian with pre-Columbian traditions to celebrate the reunion of the living with dead friends and family.

Here is a LIVE! Stream of the sights and sounds of San Angelo’s El Dia del los Muertos celebration held Thursday evening: