Last Friday thousands of people congregated in the heart of the Mission District to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, with a procession beginning at 24th and Bryant streets and finishing with a vigil in Garfield Park.

“El Dia de los Muertos is a festivity, a traditional heritage given to us by our parents, grandparents and ancestors,” said Ricardo Peña, who is from the state of Toluca near Mexico City.

According to Patricia Rodriguez, a coordinator at the Mission Cultural Center, Dia de los Muertos was introduced to the United States in the early 1970’s by a group of Chicano artists as an art performance with costumes, processions and exhibitions.

Nathan Embretson is a senior anthropology major at SF State and participated in the exhibition at the MCC with his altar named “Treasures Long Forgotten” for family buried in Mexico.

“I like how Dia de los Muertos turns something that most Americans view as sad into a happy celebration in honoring their love ones,” Embretson said.

To hear more about Embretson’s altar and watch the procession and vigil, click the yellow box to the right for the multimedia.

Click here to read more about El Dia de los Muertos celebrations at SF State.

Although Peña and his wife, Connie Rivera, assure this festivity is not celebrated exactly the way it was taught to them by their parents and grandparents, they are glad to share their traditions with other ethnicities.

“I’m happy to see that people in this country are starting to have a better understanding of what the Day of the dead really is,” Rivera said. “It is not a parade, it is a celebration for our dead, because we do not have to forget them.”

The traditional Mexican celebration starts on Oct. 31 and ends on Nov. 2, with each day dedicated to different people who passed away.

The traditional ofrenda, or offereings, has the favorite fruit or dish of the person who the altar was made for along with candles, flowers and copal incense, Peña said.