Dia de Los Muertos Festival (Fruitvale) October 30, 2005

The dead are coming back ? that means it's time for a family reunion. Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday combining All Souls' Day with the Aztec festival of Quecholli, happens a few days early in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood. More than 90,000 attendees are expected to crowd the stretch of International Boulevard for the tenth annual family-friendly celebration, packed with 150 vendors, 40 traditional altars (or ofrendas), and five stages of music and dance featuring salsa, merengue, Afro-Cuban beats, and cumbia as well as Aztec dancers and ballet folkloricó. Expect to see calacas (hand-crafted skeletons), papel picado (colorful banners), sugar skulls, and pan de muerto (sweet rolls).

http://www.unitycouncil.org/ddlm/