Friday, Oct. 31, 2003 | 8:24 a.m.
He was only 8 years old when his mother created an altar in their living room to honor and communicate with his late grandmother.
"She said, 'This is dedicated to my mother,' " Fajardo recalled. " 'This is the color she likes, and the flowers.' Then she put up the picture of my grandmother. It was so beautiful.
"My mother told me, 'Whatever you do, your grandmother is behind you. Every year you follow your tradition.' "
So he has. Even though his life in Las Vegas is miles away from the Mexican city, Fajardo celebrates the Day of the Dead every Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, known as All Souls Day and All Saints Day.
Last year Fajardo and his local Mexican dance group Ballet Folklorico Tepuchcalli built a 25-foot long ofrenda (altar).
This year the 43-year-old Fajardo and his group are creating an ofrenda for the Winchester Community Center's "Life in Death: The Day of the Dead in Las Vegas."
The two-day festival will feature 15 large-scale outdoor altars created by Las Vegas families. There will be workshops on making sugar skulls and flowers from paper, performances by Mexican dance troupes and readings of "calaveras," humorous poems written to remember those who are still alive.
The elaborately designed altars, as much as 16 feet tall, will be covered in flowers, sugar skulls, religious imagery, photographs and food for deceased loved ones who are expected to return to see their families.
"It's going to be a beautiful spectacle," said Irma Wynants, cultural specialist at Winchester Community Center. "They set them up the first of November, they stay out all night. The day the deceased leaves, they bring it down."
Additionally Mexican crafts and food will be for sale. Wynants will give presentations on the history and traditions tied to the Day of the Dead.
Wynants, who grew up in Zacatecas, a small town in Mexico, has been working to create a Day of the Dead festival in Las Vegas. Three years ago she began searching for families who celebrate the tradition.
This year Wynant went to churches, dance groups and local organizations that represent Mexican towns. She sent out 40 letters and the responses slowly began trickling in.
"It's more alive than I thought," Wynants said. "Cultures move. What stays, what leaves is interesting to see. Traditions, some of them just left them behind. Everybody has different concepts on how or where to do this personal thing. For some people, they need to have the bones here to make it real.
"One of the ladies said, 'I don't want to do this because the body's not here.' "
Day of the Dead dates back to ancient times and incorporates Catholic beliefs. In Mexico, families and sometimes entire towns celebrate Dia de los Muertos by holding parades and festivals.
Markets sell skulls, skeleton toys and pan de los muertos (bread of the dead).
"For many people in Mexico it's alive, in some towns more than others," Wynants said. "Sometimes they take the whole living room and build the ofrenda. They remember the people who passed away. They remember good things they did -- not remember the bad things.
"In a small town, they still wait all night in the cemetery. In American culture, death, you don't want to talk about that. But in reality it's the only for-sure thing we have."
Fajardo, who moved to the United States in 1982, creates altars to represent cities or states in Mexico. This year he will use the colors and customs from the Mexican state of Veracruz.
The altar will have 100 to 150 candles, flowers, colored paper and photographs of loved ones provided by friends and members of the dance troupe.
"We believe the spirit of our friends, our family can see the light," Fajardo said. "They follow the light. They see the food, the water, the beer, even tequila, hot chocolate, whatever they like.
"We have communication again with our families, our friends, to say, 'I remember you. I love you. I miss you.' "
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