Dia De Los Muertos Festival
Dia de Los Muertos Festival: An amazing cultural experience and date night! What to expect, where to find one, and how to attend a Dia de Lost Muertos event
Dia De Los Muertos FEstival
Date Info: Dia de Los Muertos Festival
Living in the Southwest can be a pretty magical thing. I know every region has its celebrations and specialties, but I am a little partial to what the desert and the cultural melting pot of the Southwest have to offer. Plus the food, oh the amazing food that Phoenix has to offer!
If we’ve never shared, Jacob and I both speak Spanish. Him fluently, me conversationally. I studied it formally during my undergrad studies. I have an English teaching degree, and BYU makes you prove proficient in another language to earn the degree. Spanish just made the most sense! And I used it quite a bit in my early teaching years.
Our Connection
Jacob served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ in Bolivia for two years. But beyond that, he also spent four months working in Mexico City two years ago helping bring clean energy and the first solar plants to Mexico. He went from conversational and religious Spanish to business and technical Spanish quickly!
We went to Peru a few years ago and promised to speak Spanish whenever we were around the natives. It was a great experience, and we learned that when you immerse yourself, your brain is a pretty amazing thing and somehow remembers.
Okay, that’s probably way more background than anyone needed. Let’s chat about why a Dia De Los Muertos festival makes for one really fun date!
Because we live in the Southwest, there are several Dia de Los Muertos festivals in our area. Somehow, we’ve never made it to one until this year. I love that they often take place for Halloween, but Dia De Los Muertos is actually Nov. 1-2. We were lucky enough to snag one after all the Halloween fun and see a lot of people celebrating their culture and their beliefs.
What is Dia De Los Muertos?
I’d say if you haven’t seen Coco, you should! It explains it better than I can, with the most heartfelt story! But it’s a day to honor your loved ones who have passed. It’s believed to connect the living with the dead, with a night to invite those in the land of the dead to come back and celebrate with their loved ones.
You can expect sugar skulls, face painting, music and dance festivities,
We sat and listened to talented musicians and walked around enjoy art exhibits most of the night. I loved all the people dressed in full costumes with sugar skulls painted faces who passed by. I also really loved walking by the ofrendas and seeing the stories and memories of loved ones.
We will definitely be prioritizing a Dia Los Muertos festival for date night more often, and next year, I plan to get there even earlier to enjoy even more of it!
