Sedona Celebrates Día De Los Muertos At Tlaquepaque
Download mp3 (2.27 MB)
LAUREN GILGER: OK, so there's also of course a large Mexican American community here in Arizona, and in Sedona, everyone can celebrate Día de los Muertos at Tlaquepaque’s annual event.
MARK BRODIE: The event will feature mariachi style music and food vendors and will really be a place for a community to pay respects to their loved ones that have passed with public altars that anyone can add to.
GILGER: Wendy Lippman is the general manager of Tlaquepaque and helps run their Day of the Dead event.
WENDY LIPPMAN: So we tell everyone, bring your ofrendas, bring whatever it is. If it’s little mementos, little treasures. We definitely encourage photos.
BRODIE: Dia de los Muertos of course is believed to be the time for the spirits of those passed to visit the living — so the living set up altars with photos and other personal effects.
GILGER: Each year, Tlaquepaque also has a public mural so artists and attendees can paint tributes to loved ones.
LIPPMAN: It’s a way to use your artistic flair in painting for somebody — a pet, a child, grandparents, whoever. It’s just a way to leave your stamp, leave your mark.
GILGER: The event planners want the celebration to be as authentic as possible so they start planning 10 months in advance. Lippman says that going all out is very important to them.
LIPPMAN: We’ve even traveled to Mexico to purchase the masks and items and just really special and unique things that you can’t find everywhere.
BRODIE: While the ofrendas and the altars, the music and food are very important to the tradition, Lippman said the thing that Tlaquepaque tries hardest to make authentic is the feeling of celebration and not sadness.
GILGER: Día de los Muertos began last night at midnight and will last until tomorrow night.
More Stories From KJZZ
