“El Panteón de Los Angeles” Dia de la celebración muertos (Day of the Dead Celebration) is a Mexican holiday celebrated through Mexico and other cultures around the world. Over the span of a couple days families come together to celebrate the lives of their ancestors and loved ones who have passed on. I had no knowledge of this event until a close friend of mine, Jacqueline Perez told me about it in junior high school. During those years, I attended two Day of the Dead celebrations in Los Angeles. Jacqueline invited me to attend when her family decided to participate. I attended the second and third Annual Dia de los Muertos Festival at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. California. During the weekend of October 27, 2012, I was in Los Angeles at the time to attend my aunt’s funeral that passed away two weeks prior. Therefore, I was not able to attend the Day of the Dead event that took place here in downtown Sacramento. Luckily, I was able to make my way to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s 13th annual Day of the Dead Festival. It felt great to be there after losing someone so close to my heart. These families were out there celebrating the life of those who passed on, and I wanted to do that as well for my aunt. I was taking back because when I came almost ten years ago it was not this extravagant. There were so many people on both sides of this event, participants and spectators. Upon arriving to the cemetery that Saturday for the festival, the first thing that caught my eye was the Aztec dance groups that were performing. There were hundreds of them all in full costume sharing their traditional blessings and rituals with the crowd. An element present at the festival that was not present when I attended awhile back was a dance plaza, where all throughout the day dancers from different cultures showcased different dance rituals. Being a dancer myself, I am always interested in seeing other cultures dance styles. They also had some fun things going on throughout the festival such as; costume contest for the best skeleton, prizes for the best altars, children’s arts and crafts station, food vendors, etc. It was nice to have things for children to do throughout the festival, because at such a young age most of them do not completely understand the significance of this event. Aside from the dancers, the plaza, and the fun activities, the most important element of this event that catches your eye are the hundred or more altar displays. The altars that the families built for their deceased loved ones not only came off colorful and breathtaking, but they gave the viewer insight on who that person was. These alters had just about everything about the deceased loved one; pictures of them throughout their life, favorite foods and drinks, personal possessions, and the traditional marigolds and sugar skulls. One altar that caught my attention was for a young girl who was thirteen years old and passed away in 2007 from Leukemia Cancer. I decided to approach this altar because I noticed a ballet tutu and ballet shoes on the altar. Therefore, I had all interest in finding out more about this young girl since I am a dancer myself. After talking with the young girls’ older brother, he informed me she was very involved in dance since the age of three until the age of eleven. He also informed me when she was first diagnosed with Leukemia cancer she continued to dance until it was impossible for her to do so with her health condition. The fight this girl put up to continue doing something she had a passion and love for was very encouraging to hear. She set aside everything to do something that made her happy and free from all the pain. Looking at the rest of the altar you could definitely tell this young girl was very fun and loving. To represent her life, her family decorated the altar with stuffed animals, her favorite candy, cherry blow pops, favorite blanket when she was younger, her favorite drink, strawberry smoothies, and a picture of her every year since the day she was born. Along with all her personal favorites, the family also decorated the altar with ample amounts of different colored marigolds, cut out designs, and different sized sugar skulls. Most of the spectators I noticed were very respectful to both the families and their altars. There were a couple times when families asked them not to take photos of the altars, and the spectator did just that and continued to observe. When the musical performers and Aztec dancers were performing, there were many people dancing and having a good time with their family and friends. Many children walked around with arts and crafts projects they made at the different booths at the festival. Overall I must say this festival was a day for everybody family or not to come together and celebrate the lives of those people who once lived and stood right beside us. I am grateful I was able to attend this wonderful event in recognition of my deceased aunt. In closing this event was absolutely one of the best festivals I have ever attended. The people and the atmosphere of the event was so uplifting. Everyone so happy and celebratory the entire time. All the participants really put their hearts and souls into making sure the life of their loved one was celebrated properly. This brings me to explanation of why I chose not to take pictures of the participants altars. Personally I did not feel comfortable taking pictures of these families deceased loved ones, just as I would not want anyone to photograph my families altar had I participated. During funerals within our family, taking pictures is prohibited so i refrained from doing so. I did take pictures of other elements at the fesitval, see below.