Dia de los Muertos – Fruitvale 2007

Feliz Dia de los Muertos!
Yesterday, the Angelitos (souls of the departed children) arrived, today (Nov 1) all the other souls join the fiesta and tomorrow we’ll light lots of candles to light the path home back to the afterlife.
Last Sunday, Stevie and I (sans our SOs) attended the tail end of the festival in the Fruitvale district. I’ll be honest, I was genuinely surprised at how wonderful the event has become. I attended a few years ago and was disappointed by the amount of drunk fools roaming about in the afternoon but alcohol is no longer served or allowed in the street. I’m still not pleased with the amount of corporate stands and sponsors but enough about the downside!
We Barted in knowing there was going to be a crowd of peeps. As we headed out of the station, I asked Stevie if he’d ever been to Fruitvale barrio and I giggled when he said no. Dood, this is going to be interesting!
We walked smack into what I think is the most cultural segment of the festival, the Plaza surrounding Fruitvale Village. We saw Ballet Folklorico dancers in their traditional colorful dresses and braids with ribbons galore along with sharply dressed charro counterparts. We walked through the area with the somber altars filled with mock graves, photos, marigolds, Christian symbols and other pieces of art. We stopped off for a quick ice cream treat at Nieves Cinco de Mayo
and found the non-​American flavors of corn, cheese and rice very cool, creamy and delicious.
We then checked out all the wares for sale by various vendors lined up and down the street including old school art and trinkets from Mexico including my new varnished wooden plaque of my favorite Latina, La Vergen de Guadalupe and new school clothing items like t-​shirts with calavera designs and «Got Tortillas?» imprinted on them. I was actually there to purchase some Day of the Dead tote bags and buttons from a husband and wife company, Cultura y Mas
to sell at my restaurant/​shop, La Borinquena
. They’re based out of Los Angeles and sell their products at festivals, their shop and online.
There was lots of live music including one of my fave local Rock en Espanol band, Fuga
and we were drawn to a circle of Aztec dancers drumming and dancing in the middle of the street. Food stands galore but we were still full from brunch and ice cream. I had to explain some of the stranger food choices like the tostadas of cueros (picked pork skin) and the bags of cut up fruit with chile and lime and the roasted corn cobs with mayo and cotija cheese.
Before we knew it, it was 5pm yet the streets were still buzzing with all kinds of people enjoying the a beautiful, exciting day in Oakland but it was time to go home. We jumped back on Bart tired yet happy about our afternoon. I’ll bring him back to «La Catorce» aka E. 14^th now know as International Blvd to eat more Latino foodstuff sometime soon. We’ll most def return next year for the 13^th Annual festival.

2007 marks the 12^th annual celebration of the Dia de los Muertos in the Fruitvale district of Oakland. (See photos)
My family has attended almost every year and looks forward to this event more than any other event in the Bay Area,
It is sponsored by the community group, the Unity Council, and has grown larger and more popular with each passing year.
It began with a FANTASTIC peformance by Danza Cuatonal, a local group of Aztec dancers with beautiful costumes. The beauty and energy of this group was mesmerizing.
The most important part of the celebration were the altars (ofrendas).
There were several communtiy group-​sponsored altars that were dedicated to:
People who died from acts of violence.
Immigrants who died crossing into the U.S.
Men and women who died in the name of freedom.
Women of Juarez, Mexico, who were murdered.
The over 3,000 US troops killed in Iraq.
Smaller altars were dedicated to family members and friends.
Woodland Elementary School had memory page altars that children dedicated to family members and friends. Their heartfelt drawings, paintings, collages and macaroni noodle skeletons along with their «recuerdos» were very powerful and moving.
Head Start programs made paper mache sculptures that were beautifully painted and decorated in stickers and sequins.
Along with the altars were 4 or 5 ongoing music stages from Mariachi tunes, rap, Santana tunes, community groups, Ballet Folklorico, Cubano music and something for everyone.
There were MANY food booths and carts selling tortas, tacos, pupusas, agua frescas, kettle corn, churros rellenos, hot dogs, meat kabobs, chicarrones, snow cones, ice cream, etc. Plus there are dozens of restaurants along International Blvd that were cooking up a storm too!
Community groups from AC Transit, Oakland Zoo, Oakland Museum,
Peralta Colleges, Oakland Library, Monterey Aquarium, Kaiser, Blue Cross were ll giving our freebies and information.
Commercial groups were passing out bags, fans and other freebies.
There were many booths selling crafts, flags, jewelry, tee shirts, toys,
tiny to huge sugar skulls, loteria playing cards, magnets, scarves,
balloons, flowers (paper, plastic, cloth), etc.
There were guys selling cotton candy from 10 foot poles.
There were lots of marching Topo Gigio dolls for sale.
There was lots of amplified sounds and music everywhere… a little too loud and crazy but somehow everyone was having fun!
I almost forgot to mention the several children’s activity tents.
My friend’s 6 and 9 year old kids had a blast painting pounded metal medallions, paper cut outs and other activities!
There was also free face painting.
There were gunny sack slides and jumping tents (for a fee?)
What I love most about this event is that it is a real community event.
There are couples. families, teens from Fruitvale and all other the Bay Area.
I loved this year’s event and can’t wait for next year’s!
Thanks Unity Council for another successful event!