Sunday was Día de los Muertos – Day of the Dead – and Birmingham celebrated in a big way!  Barehandsinc.org has been preparing for this 12th celebration all year-long and I do believe this was probably their best year ever!

Eddie and I arrived a little before 4 p.m. (when the gates opened) and normally we pay our $10 and get right in.  Not this year…we waited almost 20 minutes to get in this year!  Not a bad thing for the event, mind you!

Once we got in, the courtyard – which is generally rather empty – was already quite crowded.  I started at one end of the big brick wall and began making my way down the wall taking pictures and just taking it all in.  There were many more public altars this year.  And there was a huge tribute to Mexican Artists.  It would have taken me all night to read all those names…it was simply beautiful.

I remarked to Eddie how there were hardly any people there that we knew.  Again, not a bad thing…it was great seeing lots of new faces.  it’s a wonderful thing for a festival!  We eventually ran into quite a few friends.  Eddie captured it with a photo of the group – then a man walked right in front of us, oblivious to us all standing there posing for the camera – and Eddie captured the aftermath…all of us laughing hysterically!  Love that photo and all those friends!

Got to see my sweet friend, Cristina Almanza at DOD this year!

I didn’t get to see festival founders Wendy Jarvis nor Tracy Martin this year…but I know they were beaming at the turnout and at the success of this year’s event.  So many people remembered and celebrated.  And that’s what the event is all about.

I’ve seen so many photos of the event on Facebook this past week.  Here are a few of mine to add to the mix…

My friend Miguel with his sweet daughter Gabriella…she was mesmerized by the mariachi playing at the altars.