MEXICO CITY, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Every year in late autumn, marigolds sway with candlelight across Mexico to usher in the annual traditional festival of the dead. In the face of COVID-19, this year's Day of the Dead is different for Hovita and other Mexicans.
"My mother was optimistic and open-minded before she died, and she liked this traditional festival." Hovita said. Hovita's mother died of COVID-19 a few months ago. Like many Mexicans, she not only has to face the "new normal" of coexistence with the epidemic, but also adapts to the "new life" from the home to mourn the deceased.
Video loading...
Every year on November 1 and 2 is Mexico's traditional festival, the Day of the Dead, one of the most grand and unique festivals in Mexico. After the Spanish colonists came to Mexico, they combined the Western Halloween tradition with the local indigenous customs to create the Day of the Dead.
According to legend, the souls of adults will return to the human world early in the morning of the 2nd. According to traditional Mexican customs, after cleaning the cemetery, the relatives and friends of the deceased offer roses, sunflowers, marigolds and other flowers, and put on the deceased's favorite dishes and bread for the deceased, and "have dinner" with the deceased.
In Mexican legend, marigold symbolizes the sun's rays that give origin to all things, pointing the way back home for the soul returning to the world.
An altar on the streets of Mexico City on Nov. 2. Xinhua News Agency
This year, Hovita did not go to the cemetery to keep vigil in the traditional way. At home, she put pictures of her mother and her favorite food to eat, and quietly guarded her relatives. For them, this year's Day of the Dead is less lively.
Hovita's friends and family also changed the way they usually met and sent blessings, some of them sent blessings online, others quietly came to her door and put candles and small gifts. Hovita also prepared bags of food and gifts to place at the door as a thank you.
As of early November, the COVID-19 pandemic had spread in Mexico for more than eight months, claiming more than 92,000 lives, and an average of several hundred people are still dying every day. The Mexican government has announced that many official events will be held online and has called on people to maintain anti-epidemic measures.
On October 31, Mexico began a three-day national mourning period, with flags lowered at half-mast at the National Palace. Xinhua News Agency
On mexico's main thoroughfare, the Avenue of Reform, a small number of passers-by stopped to maintain a safe distance to take a group photo next to the festival's characteristic "skull" statue, and activities such as the parade and the festival of the dead market held in previous years have been cancelled.
Shops along the street decorate colorful paper-cut hangings and small altars for the Day of the Dead, and occasionally passers-by stop to take pictures and then leave in a hurry. Some indigenous people gather scatteredly on the side of the road, selling Mexican handmade dolls and masks embroidered with the heads of famous figures such as "Frida" to make ends meet.
According to media reports, due to the closure of some major memorial sites of the Day of the Dead, Lake Patesquaro, one of the prototypes filmed in the animated film "Dream Quest", which was previously popular around the world, is expected to attract 70,000 visitors during this year's Festival of the Dead, a decrease of 200,000 visitors from the same period last year, and the hotel occupancy rate is only about 30%.
A masked citizen walks through an altar on a street in Mexico City on Nov. 1. Xinhua News Agency
Mexico's Minister of Culture, Alejandra Flavusto, told the public: "Our culture always saves us. Our nation is dedicated to solidarity and mutual assistance. During this period, please take responsibility, take care of your lives, and set up altars in your homes. ”
The Mexican government previously announced that it will begin a three-day national mourning period from October 31 to mourn the deceased, especially those who have died of the new crown virus.
There are 20 indigenous altars in the National Palace, where the President of Mexico resides, and President López López recently took his wife to the indigenous people to commemorate the deceased and paid tribute to the deceased.
This is a photo taken on October 31 of the indigenous altar in the National Palace of Mexico. Xinhua News Agency
The famous Mexican writer and Nobel laureate in literature, Octavio Paz, once said: "Death is actually a reflection of life." If death is meaningless, so must be his life. ”
"This tradition can never be stopped, and even less this year. We have lost friends and family due to the pandemic, but only those who have been forgotten by their loved ones and who do not have an altar have really died. Hovita said. (Editors: Qian Yongwen, Tang Zhiqiang; Editor: Wang Pei)