Mesilla Celebrates Día de los Muertos

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A traditional Mexican holiday honoring the dead will be celebrated in Mesilla Nov. 1-2. New Mexico State University's Anna María Pérez-Wright tells us about Día de los Muertos.

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Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a unique Indo-Hispano holiday, will be celebrated the first weekend of November in Mesilla. Coordinator Mike Cook with New Mexico State University's Rural Economic Development Through Tourism project says the festival is both a solemn and happy remembrance of departed loved ones.

"The centuries-old tradition of Día de los Muertos is celebrated each November first which is All Saints Day to honor all the saints in heaven, and November second, which is All Souls Day, a day of prayer for the souls of the dead."

Along with art, food and coffee booths, participants will build and display traditional altars during the event.

"At noon there is an altar-building workshop at the Mesilla Plaza and the charge for that is six dollars a person, and then at 6:30 p.m. there is a ghost tour of Mesilla."

Various Mesilla merchants will sell traditional foods, such as pan de los muertos, or bread of the dead during the event. For more information on Mesilla's Día de los Muertos celebration November First and Second, call (505) 524-3262. For N-M-S-U's College of Agriculture and Home Economics, I'm Anna María Pérez-Wright.