Calacas to hold Sugar Skull Workshops starting on Sep. 14

Santa Ana’s Calacas is going to be holding “Sugar Skull Workshops” starting on Monday, September 14, at 7 pm, at 324 W. 4th St., at 4th and Birch in the West End Theater.  For a fee of only $3 you will get the materials and the instruction – and you will walk out with your own “Sugar Skull.”

The “Sugar Skulls” are used on the Dia de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead.”

The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls’ Day) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on the 2nd of November in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints’ Day which occurs on Nov 1st and All Souls’ Day which occurs on Nov 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern holiday to indigenous observances dating back thousands of years, and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl. (Wikipedia)