There was so much energy in the streets last night!
Such a bustling and beautiful and chaotic evening!
Usually in Nelson we sit with the lights dim and close up shop, discouraging anyone from coming down our steep, dark, not many houses street. In the past we have been the wagon wheel house, as anyone who actually made it to our house deserved something great for the trek!!
This was not that!
I will be curious once the festival is over how busy the downtown beach area will be at night?
Last night it was certainly hoppin!
There were so many kids dressed as little devils, it was probably the most popular of the costumes. Pretty freaking cute! There were very few adults in costume. Some with a bit of face paint but not many.
The kids did trick or treat, which felt like an odd western addition to their celebrations, but hey are people going to give up the opportunity to get free candy?! Obvs, no! But it seemed that because people like to be out in the evening (it’s cooler), they did their trick or treating in the stores and restaurants. The old gringos that looked like they were snowbirds were having a blast (albeit a mildly creepy, not in a halloween sense but in a gringos are odd sense kinda blast) sitting and drinking in the restaurants filling up the little plastic pumpkins.
A couple of times, kids recognizing that we are gringos came and asked us for candy, we didn’t have any, and they would just stare up us in this disbelief and confusion! Like we are gringos, how do we not have candy!!
There was a very slow moving boat parade that traveled around the bay, and a Catrina costume fashion show, that had wonderful live music.
(pics and videos will be up on the insta.) (oh fucking insta….anyhoo)
The street food vendors were quite the sight to watch as well! The kind of relaxed but fast pacing you don’t often see in Canada. Not sure if they are always there or just for the festivities. If they are and it is not so crazy busy, perhaps we will check them out.
(currently we are taking it slow with the consumption part of it all. Trying to build up our systems and avoid ole Montezuma…)
The decorations just keep getting added onto, as today is the last day, I am so curious if they will still put up more. And when all is said and done how fast will they all come down?
On our walk home we could see into the living rooms of houses and they all had these amazing shrines set up for their loved ones. I think I will be adding a version of this tradition to my All Hallow Eve times. It feels good to celebrate the people who were once in your life. To acknowledge them, celebrate them and spend some time with them when the veil between the worlds of life and death becomes thin.
Really touching and beautiful.
Balanced by the crazy moment of so many motorcycles all honking and backfiring and creating so much noise and smell and spectacle!
One more evening of the festivities to go. Still excited and curious what the next event will be!
Also quite cansada from the previous evenings good times!!
What do you think about incorporating Dia De Muertos ideals into your own celebrations?
How do you celebrate and acknowledge the people who have passed in your life?
Danke so mucho for following along and for taking the extra clicks to get here!
Remember, I say it all the time but it’s true,
I appreciate you WAY more than zuck do!
Lady Beastie
We use to party hard on Halloween pre-parenting, and then trick-or-treated harder in the child-rearing years, but yes, things slowed down when the teen became an adult for sure, and there was no reason to encourage young kids to attempt our treacherous sidewalk stairs at night, now that less and less kids make the dark trek down🎃
That motorbike parade was one of the loudest most chaotic things I’ve ever seen that didn’t end up in disaster, and after the car-filled roundabout fireworks overhead for the Catrina lighting, it’s somewhat safe to say that the Mexicanos can pull off celebratory cluster-f*cks in a way that nanny-state Canamerica would never allow, let alone pull off🎏
For me now, Dia de los Muertos is the premier holiday of the late autumn, and it was awesome to see sugar-addicted Halloween become a side-note add-on to a festivity that celebrates our loves ones who have come before us — much more healthy and constructive than those drunk sugar-daddy vibes given off by the creepy older gringos with mounds of crack for the kids!💊🍭🍥🍻🍹🍾
It sure was great! Danke for always leaving such great comments. ox
Thanks for sharing! I love the idea of connecting with past loved ones when the veil is thinner. We hosted a Samhain/All Hallow’s Eve ceremony this year and created an altar. We were guided through the veil for a period of time and I was able to connect with my paternal grandfather to receive a message. To mr this was so much more powerful and satisfying than dressing up for candy or partying.
Thank you so much for that and for sharing it with everyone on the site! If we all start to do things like this then we will all start to do them! I love hearing about what you chose to do. I would love to hear more about your Grandfather one day too. Mucho Mucho danke. and ox