FREE DAY OF THE DEAD FESTIVAL AT SUNSET LAWN CHAPEL OF THE CHIMES CELEBRATES ANCESTORS WITH TRADITIONAL DANCING AND GRAVE DECORATING ON NOV. 1

Sunset Lawn Chapel of the Chimes celebrates 'Day of the Dead' with a traditional Miktlantekuhtli dance performance, sugar skull decorating and Mexican hotdogs. The ancient Hispanic "grave decorating" tradition is conducted every fall to celebrate the deceased and encourage visits by their souls. At Sunset Lawn, hundreds of guests from all backgrounds will attend the festival to witness and participate in the time-honored rituals of 'Day of the Dead.'

The 'Day of the Dead' observance dates back more than 2,000 years and is linked to the pre-Hispantic era. Each year, celebrants visit ancestral graves to build private altars and decorate graves with ofrendas ("offerings"). This year, Sunset Lawn will have sugar skulls to decorate in the ancient tradition of keeping skulls as trophies and to display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.