San Francisco’s Potrero del Sol Park hosted a lively Día de los Muertos celebration on Sunday, Nov. 2. At the festival, attendees honored their loved ones with intricate altars and copal incense to direct the souls.

Every year, Hispanic communities all around the world gather to celebrate the “Day of the Dead.” From the marigold flowers and calaveras to the variety of dishes scattered across the altars, the festival provides an opportunity for people to pay respects to the deceased.

Sarah Perez said she attended this festival to honor her son, Mario, who passed away at five years old. She enjoyed the community aspect of Día de los Muertos and hopes that through the celebration, she can commemorate how much Mario loved dance and music.

“It’s a way of remembering Mario, because he had a very short life. Just turned five when he died and it’s the community part of it. He has three half sisters that come and get to know more about Mario. So that’s nice,” Perez said.

Día de los Muertos isn’t only for Hispanic communities. Molly Hankwitz, who is of German descent, chose to celebrate it to bond with her extended family. She said she prefers the ideology of death expressed in Día de los Muertos compared to alternative beliefs.

“I just really like the Mexican philosophy of death. I think it’s healthier than thinking about it more like Heaven and Hell and scary death. So it’s kind of fun, especially as the lights go down, to think you look around and realize the dead are among us, and we’re among them,” Hankwitz said. “It’s very nice to feel that they could still be living through us.”

Hankwitz said the event was well organized and the process of setting up her altar went smoothly. She also enjoyed walking around and learning about others’ loved ones.

“We’ve taken a couple of walks around. It’s amazing to see all the different people and to take an interest in other people’s lost relatives and friends,” Hankwitz said. “It’s interesting how many people stop by to look at ours and take an interest in who these people were and see pictures of other people’s friends and events going really beautifully.”

For attendee Karla Gonzalez, the festival helped her notice how the celebration of Día de los Muertos has changed since she was a kid.

“When I was little, it was mostly Latino communities, and there was a period of time during the gentrification of the Mission District that the traditions changed so it felt more like Halloween,” Gonzalez said. “Now we’re kind of back to bringing it back to the meaning, and now there’s more cultures incorporated too. It’s beautiful now.”

Meanwhile, festival attendee Hallie McConnell, who helped make the first Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), came to celebrate to protest her thoughts on artificial intelligence.

“My altar is about the last human living in 2032 and I figured because the estimates are 25% chance of total super intelligence being created in five years” McConnell said. “I figured I should do the apocalypse honoring and the altar now, rather than later, because later there will be no people.”
Overall, Charmion Forrester said the holiday is a meaningful way to commemorate loved ones.

“It’s meaningful because you just don’t ever want to forget about your loved ones and the things that they like to do, or what they cherished, or even their favorite foods they like to eat, so it just makes you remember them,” Forrester said.