Día de Muertos, Day of the Dead

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The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. From Wikipedia "Some families build altars or small shrines in their homes; these sometimes feature Christian cross, statues or pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pictures of deceased relatives and other persons, scores of candles and an ofrenda. Traditionally, families spend some time around the altar, praying and telling anecdotes about the deceased. In some locations celebrants wear shells on their clothing, so when they dance, the noise will wake up the dead; some will also dress up as the deceased."

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It is more a celebration of the deceased persons life and they had folkloric dancing going on out on the street. Some of the shrines built to loved ones were very ornate and they have a contest for the best shrine. Some people had simple face painting while others had entire costumes and very elaborate face paint.

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The look on the woman's face below tells me the little ones did something they should not have done. We were very surprised at how crowded this festival got and how big it was. There is a very large one that takes place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery that I want to go to one of these years.

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