Sunday, November 1st, was the Day of the Dead in Guatemala. We drove to the town of Santiago Sacatepequez with the other ORI families to observe the festivities. The fiesta took place in the town's cemetery.
The Day of the Dead is a holiday to honor deceased relatives. Traditionally, kites were thought to be a way to communicate with the dead. Today the holiday has become a huge kite festival. Folks make large 10 or 15 foot kites of bamboo and tissue paper and attempt to fly them. Unfortunately, there was very little wind, so we only saw one kite in the air.
There were also huge, elaborately decorated kites of bamboo and tissue paper, 60 feet tall. They assembled these kites on site. They were not intended to fly, but were tied to poles sunk into the ground.
The kites were absolutely gorgeous! And it was fascinating to watch the teams assembling them.
All of the graves and mausoleums were decorated with flowers. The children claimed this spot to watch the festivities.
This trio of musicians was playing in the cemetery.
The Day of the Dead is a holiday to honor deceased relatives. Traditionally, kites were thought to be a way to communicate with the dead. Today the holiday has become a huge kite festival. Folks make large 10 or 15 foot kites of bamboo and tissue paper and attempt to fly them. Unfortunately, there was very little wind, so we only saw one kite in the air.
There were also huge, elaborately decorated kites of bamboo and tissue paper, 60 feet tall. They assembled these kites on site. They were not intended to fly, but were tied to poles sunk into the ground.
The kites were absolutely gorgeous! And it was fascinating to watch the teams assembling them.
All of the graves and mausoleums were decorated with flowers. The children claimed this spot to watch the festivities.
This trio of musicians was playing in the cemetery.
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