![]() ![]() The Day of the Dead originated in Indigenous cultures and has been celebrated for thousands of years, but tourists started arriving in Arocutin only in 2002. I will probably be buried here when I die". ![]() "Villagers are really welcoming and told me I could lay my mother's ashes here, next to the unknown soldier. I really respect their traditions", said Conti. "Some tourists do come around here, but here is a different world. When she was building her house with her late husband, they found bones that were believed to be those of a soldier killed in 1915 during the Mexican Revolution. A retired healthcare manager, she decided to move to Arocutin precisely because of its beauty and traditions, and she now lives here with her dog. The only American in Arocutin Monday was Georgia Conti. That raised concerns that tourists might flock to smaller villages nearby. While the island of Janitzio in Lake Patzcuaro is the site best known for colorful Day of the Dead celebrations, the tiny island remains remains closed to visitors to avoid crowding. It is very private, a completely different thing." ![]() This is a celebration, sure, but a religious one, so there is no music or much alcohol. "It's all about preserving tradition as much as we can", said Alma Ascencio, the representative for local artisans. Residents of Arocutin started hanging up traditional garlands of marigold flowers early morning Sunday to adorn the entrance of the small local cemetery.Īrocutin remains a holdout: It is the only town in the region where the cemetery lies in the churchyard, and where all the tombs are dug directly into the earth, surrounded by a simple ring of stones, rather than the more elaborate cement and brick vaults used elsewhere. While kids in Mexico City donned Halloween-style costumes based on the Netflix series "Squid Game," people in the village of Arocutin were more concerned with the flower arrangements and candles meant to guide the spirits of the dead home. "Come and visit us, Patzcuaro welcomes you with open arms," said Julio Arreola, mayor of the city in the western state of Michoacan that is famed for its colonial-era plazas and architecture.īut in some smaller villages around the lakeshore, residents tried to preserve the authentic, non-tourist flavour of traditions passed down for hundreds of years. In the lakeside city of Patzcuaro itself, tourists were treated to a parade, theater and music performances. The famed Day of the Dead ceremonies around Mexico's Lake Patzcuaro were once again thronged with visitors on Monday, economic relief for a tourist-dependent region that suffered from last year's pandemic shutdown of the observance. ![]()
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