Barbosa showroom in San Miguel de Allende comes alive every October and November in honor to the ones have left us on earth. Each year, this tiny Spanish colonial town in the mountainous state of Guanajuato, attracts visitors from around Mexico and the world for all its celebrations and Barbosa window follows the Traditions of San Miguel.
Day of the Dead in San Miguel
Festival La Calaca, literally “Festival of the Skull,” includes parades, dinners and altars set up in shops along the main square outside of San Miguel the Archangel Cathedral. The main events take place Nov. 1-2.
On Nov. 2, visitors experience an event combining Christian and pagan traditions, with both a cemetery and an Aztec ceremony honoring the dead. There are many art galleries, museums and churches to explore in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Altars, some elaborate and others very simple, are scattered around town. They usually include photos of loved ones along with things they enjoyed while alive. A cowboy may have a saddle, bottles of beer and bread. Even pets are honored.
In the square in front of the Church of Our Lady of Health, there is the Pyramid of the Dead designed by artist Tomas Burkey. Strings of perforated paper flags known as papel picado hang everywhere.
Cemeteries are filled with visitors who adorn graves with flowers, light candles and enjoy meals with the departed. The idea is to give their souls a warm welcome, a reason to make the trip from the spirit world to comfort those they left behind.
When the sun sets, there is live music, dancing and parades with giant paper mache puppets known as mojigangas. Revelers in costumes or with painted faces stream into the main plaza, where locals dressed in Aztec feathers and body paint perform a ceremony between the Allende garden and the cathedral while children and adults in skeleton costumes look on.
