Ancient celebration starts today

Eric Leake

Monday, Nov. 1, 2004 | 8:37 a.m.

Halloween may be over, but the skeletons are just getting started at "Life in Death: The Day of the Dead" in Las Vegas.

The festival runs from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. today and Tuesday at the Winchester Cultural Center at 3130 S. McLeod Drive near Desert Inn Road.

Irma Wynants, a cultural specialist with Clark County Parks and Community Services, explained that the Day of the Dead is an ancient Mexican pagan celebration that is observed on Catholic All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

"It is a very old tradition that people celebrate to remember people who passed away. It's a time when they bring them back to life by their memories," Wynants said.

Attractions will include "ofrendas," 16-foot square altars built in remembrance of the dead, sawdust paintings and a museum exhibition of oil paintings and a flower mosaic by Mexican artists.

Performers will read humorous poems called "calaveras," which mock living figures with death.

The purpose of the celebration is to remember and laugh at death as an everyday thing, Wynants said.

"Death is funny because it's so common, so Mexicans make fun of it," she said. Day of the Dead skeletons are often depicted as doing ordinary and funny things.

The festival is in its fourth year. Admission is free and many of the attractions will be set in the park adjoining the community center.

Admission to Mexican folklore and mariachi performances in the center's theater is $3. For more information, call 455-7340.