Dia De Los Muertos in San Antonio, Texas

During mid October through November 3rd, the city of San Antonio celebrates Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  As a Puerto Rican, I’ve never celebrated DDLM.  My daughter loved the Disney movie Coco and made us all watch it on repeat for a couple of months.  I don’t know about you, but every time I see Miguel sing “Remember Me” to Mama Coco I start to cry...every....single...time.  I thought the movie did a great job at showing how the Day of the Dead is about celebrating the life of family members that have passed. Dia de los Muertos is not a Mexican version of Halloween, which I have to admit that’s what I thought about this holiday.  The point of the holiday is to demonstrate love and respect for family members who are deceased.  To get a better understanding of this holiday, my family drove to downtown San Antonio for two different free Dia de los Muertos celebrations.  This blog will feature our day at the Dia de los Muertos celebrations at Market Square and Hemisphere Park.

Our first stop is Historic Market Square at 514 W. Commerce at.  When we first walked in, we saw that it is beautifully decorated with bright colored Papel Picado hanging all over the square.  There are unique alters and sugar skulls on display.  The street vendors throughout the square are selling aguas fresca’s, churros, chicken and sausage on a stick and more.  We bought churros for the kids and walked around for an hour enjoying the live music.  Inside Market Square you will find restaurants and shops selling goods from Mexico.  I’ve been to Market Square when an event wasn’t taking place and it’s a very nice place to walk around and shop.  After enjoying the festivities here, we decided to walk to Hemisphere Park to check out the free Day of the Dead Celebration, Muertos Fest.

Hemisphere Park (434 S. Alamo st.), hosts  a Dia de los Muertos celebration every year on the last weekend in October.  According to USA Today, this DDLM celebration is one of the top 10 in the world.  What I enjoyed about this event, was beautiful altars that artists, families, and school clubs exhibited throughout the area.  My family enjoyed the live music, live poetry reading, kids crafts, and the art and food vendors.  After we walked around to all the alter displays and booths, the kids enjoyed the playground at Yanaguana Gardens before heading home.  (If you would like to read all about Yanaguana Gardens, click here).

Before we went home, I remembered to stop by the new Selena Quintanilla Catrina on the corner of Alamo St. and Market St.  You will find her a block from the entrance of Hemisphere Park.

In 2008 UNESCO recognized the importance of Dia de los Muertos by adding the holiday to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Humanity (1).  San Antonio is the perfect city to visit if you want to celebrate the Day of the Dead.  Does your city have any Dia de los Muertos celebrations?  Leave a comment below.

(1) nationalgeographic.com