Life of the Party

OLD TOWN ALBUQUERQUE takes Día de los Muertos to a new level with 10 days of remembrance and reflection from October 30 to November 8. The celebration peaks November 1–2 for All Souls’ Day, as Old Town Plaza transforms into Plaza de los Recuerdos. “It’s really cool to watch the community come out and build the ofrendas,” says JJ Mancini, president of the Historic Old Town Association, of the roughly 80 altars honoring dearly departed loved ones.  

The festivities begin with a sunset ceremony and blessing from curandero Mario Del Angel Guevara, director of Chicano studies at the University of New Mexico. “In the evening, people are sharing stories about loved ones,” Mancini says. “Later, hundreds of attendees light candles in memory of their loved ones, and we walk around the plaza in a candlelit procession.”  

The festivities include a traditional Catrina procession with participants in their finest skull makeup and attire, 20-foot-tall model hot-air balloons set aglow along plaza streets and the church courtyard, family-night showings of the movie Coco on the adobe walls of San Felipe de Neri church, and a performance by Los Matachines de Bernalillo. “It has this beautiful symbolism,” Mancini says of the dance that tells the story of Christian conversion. “It’s a tradition that dates back over 300 years.”