(Day of the Dead)

Everyone's invited to join us in downtown Oceanside on Sunday, October 30, for this year’s celebration of Dia de los Muertos! It’s Oceanside’s fifth annual celebration of a festival that is growing bigger and better every year.

Downtown streets will be changed into a flower-filled Mexican plaza using over 30,000 marigolds grown especially for the day by Mellano & Company. Marigolds are used to create the heart of the festival -- the ofrendas, or altars, created by artists, students, and Oaxacan families as memorials. The flowers are used along with skulls and skeletons, and items that remind us of how our friends and loved ones lived their lives.

Picture a day spent at a Mexican Fiesta -- surrounded by beautiful music, dancing, good food, and a newly expanded retail Mercado filled with unusual items. You can spend time viewing the authentic Oaxacan ofrendas honoring the loved ones of our community. Stop by the gallery to see Dia de los Muertos art and photography shown by local artists and collectors.

The area that gets the most attention and most favorable compliments year after year is the Chalk Cemetery. This is an interactive area that lets you use flowers, candles and chalk to create a memorial for your loved ones. By the end of the day we will have a beautiful, heart warming garden that stretches for an entire block.

There is also a children’s craft area, street entertainers, and opportunities throughout the day to learn more about the history of this uplifting celebration.

And when you’ve purchased your Dia t-shirt, your Pan de Muerto (special bread), and decorated a sugar candy skull, relax with great food and drink in the shade of the palm trees next to the library fountain. Maybe the lively music coming from the festival stage will inspire you to jump up and join in the dancing.

If you would like to take part in a great event, call us. We could use your help over the next two months planning and preparing -- or you could help us on the day of the festival in the gallery, the children’s area, or the info and sales booth. You could also help decorate the venue with flowers and papel picado, or help with set up and take down.

Oceanside’s Dia de los Muertos Celebration for 2005, is brought to you by MainStreet Oceanside, on Sunday, October 30, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Pier View Way at Coast Highway. Admission free.