Julissa Chavez - Celebrating Día De Los Muertos

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

¿Cómo vas a celebrar el Día de los Muertos este año? (How will you be celebrating Day of the Dead this year?) 

In Season 3, Episode 63 of Roofing Road Trips, RCS Podcast Producer, Megan Ellsworth, is joined by Julissa Chavez of SRS Distribution. In this special episode, Julissa walks us through the history and traditions of Día De Los Muertos, one of Mexico’s most treasured holidays.  

Día De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead is usually celebrated from October 31 through November 2 whereby families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives. The life and memories of loved ones are honored with lots of delicious food, drinks and rich family traditions. Most people will also choose specific foods and beverages that were the favorites of a late friend or family member. 

“What you will see in a lot of households, and this is common to me, is an altar,” said Julissa. “It'll have photos of family members who have passed away, you'll usually see candles set on the altar to reminisce and glorify and give them kind of that yearly acknowledgement that even though they're no longer with us, they're still in spirit in our hearts and in our memory." 

Julissa remembers helping her grandmother construct large colorful wreaths out of paper mache every year in preparation for Día de los Muertos. She also remembers taking these wreaths, as well as flowers and other decorations, to the graves of her relatives.  

"What everybody does in Mexico is they'll go to the place where their relatives are buried," said Julissa. “[We] clean their graves, sweep it and put fresh flowers on them. We go and visit [our past relatives] and make their grave site pretty for one time a year.” 

Many people will also dress in skulls, eat skull sugar candy and decorate their altars and homes with skulls. Traditional food and drink like, Pad de Muerto of All Saints or Atole, which is a spicy dark chocolate corn-based drink, is enjoyed by many families across Mexico and the U.S. during this time of year.  

"You can wish anyone happy Day of the Dead by saying Feliz Día de los Muertos,” said Julissa.  

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more from Julissa and about the culturally rich traditions of Día de los Muertos.