City of Santa Maria encourages virtual Dia de los Muertos celebrations

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The City of Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is encouraging the community to safely observe the Dia de los Muertos holiday through social media.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a day to honor the memory of departed loved ones.

As part of a virtual celebration, information highlighting the traditions and customs of the holiday and ideas on how to celebrate will be posted on the Recreation and Parks Department's Facebook and Instagram every Monday beginning on October 12 through November 9. The posts will include educational Day of the Dead elements, recipes for traditional food items and instructional videos on designing altars, face painting, sugar skulls, and other crafts.

Starting Monday, October 19, free Dia de los Muertos activity kits will also be available to reserve online here.

People are encouraged to create a colorful altar (ofrenda) to honor a departed family member or friend in the Dia de los Muertos tradition, and share pictures of their altars to be included in an online slideshow.

Photos of altars may be sent to rpinfo@cityofsantamaria.org. The deadline to submit pictures for the slideshow is 5:00pm on Tuesday, November 3.

Questions may be directed to the Recreation and Parks Department at (805) 925-0951 extension 2260.