OLAX Invites the Community to Honor Loved Ones at Día de los Muertos Altar Expo

Free, all-ages events run through November 2 at the Community Resource Center

Borrego Springs will mark Día de los Muertos this week with a series of free, family-friendly events hosted by OLAX (Organización de Latinx), the local nonprofit that has served the town’s Latinx community since 2020. All events take place at the Borrego Springs Community Resource Center (CRC).

The series opened on October 22 with a Flower and Papel Picado Workshop, where participants made the paper marigolds and cut-paper banners that decorate traditional altars. Materials were provided, and many of the pieces made that evening will appear on the altars this weekend.

What’s ahead

• Altar Setup, Thursday, Oct. 29 through Saturday, Oct. 31, starting at 9 a.m. Families and community members will build their altars at the CRC.
• Altar Expo, Sunday, Nov. 1 and Monday, Nov. 2, starting at 9 a.m. The finished altars will be open for the public to visit.
• Family Day and Catrina Contest, Sunday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. The afternoon includes a Catrina contest and a presentation by Las Flores del Desierto.

A colorful Día de los Muertos display decorated with papel picado, marigolds and candles.

A celebration of memory, not mourning

Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is one of Mexico’s most important traditions, with roots that reach back to Indigenous practices thousands of years old. It is not a sad holiday. Families believe that on November 1 and 2, the spirits of loved ones return home for a visit, and the living prepare a warm welcome.

At the center of the celebration is the ofrenda, or altar. Families fill it with photographs of the people they are remembering, along with the things those people loved: favorite foods and drinks, a deck of cards, a favorite song, a hat. Candles light the way home. Water refreshes the spirits after their long journey. Pan de muerto, a sweet bread often decorated with bone shapes, and sugar skulls with names written across the forehead add sweetness to the visit.

Bright orange cempasúchil, or marigolds, are the flower of the day. Their color and strong scent are said to guide spirits back to their families, and petals are sometimes laid in a path leading to the altar. Papel picado, the colorful tissue paper banners with cut-out designs, flutter overhead and represent the fragile, passing nature of life.

Traditionally, November 1 is set aside for children who have passed, known as Día de los Angelitos, and November 2 honors adults.

Handmade Catrina and Catrín figures stand among oversized paper flowers at the Community Resource Center.

Who is La Catrina?

The elegant skeleton in a wide, flowered hat has become the best-known face of the holiday. La Catrina began as a satirical drawing by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada in the early 1900s, poking fun at people who put on airs. Muralist Diego Rivera later gave her a full gown and a place in his famous mural, and she became a symbol of a simple truth: in the end, everyone is equal. Today, people of all ages paint their faces as Catrinas and Catrines to celebrate the holiday, which is what Sunday’s contest is all about.

Everyone is welcome

OLAX organizers say the series is for all ages and open to everyone, whether your family has celebrated Día de los Muertos for generations or you are experiencing it for the first time. Visitors to the Altar Expo are encouraged to take their time, read the photos and stories on each altar, and learn about the people being remembered by their Borrego neighbors.

For more information, contact OLAX at info@olaxdeborrego.org.



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