Oceanside celebrates Day of the Dead downtown again

Hundreds of people poured into the heart of Oceanside on Sunday to celebrate Day of the Dead in a colorful and traditional fashion.

The event, which is much more than a street festival, was held in downtown Oceanside for its 20th year, after a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic and nine years at Mission San Luis Rey.

This year’s event included traditional musicians and dancers, many vendors and dozens of altars in memory of loved ones.
Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition dating back 3,000 years that allows the community to honor and celebrate the memories of the deceased.

“It’s a celebration of the lives of loved ones who aren’t here anymore” said Cathy Nykiel, board president of Friends of Oceanside Dia de los Muertos.

Traditional Mexican Folkloric dancers dance in the street during the Oceanside Dia de los Muertos Festival in Oceanside , CA on Sunday, October 24, 2021. Spearheaded by many and headed by Friends of Oceanside Dia de los Muertos and Chema and Manuel Navarro of Por Siempre Car Club, the festival will continue this tradition and has moved back to Downtown Oceanside where it began for its 20th celebratory year.

(Photo by Sandy Huffaker/for The San Diego Union-Tribune)

She said this festival used more than 30,000 marigolds, the traditional Dia de los Muertos flower, grown by Mellano Flower Company in Oceanside since the festival’s inception.

People place offerings, or “ofrendas,” things that remind them of their loved ones or food their loved ones liked in the altars. In Mexico the altar is usually in a home or at a gravesite.

During the Oceanside event the altars were many places, including in car trunks. There also was a chalk cemetery for people to place their mementos.

Erika Karina Garcia stared proudly at an altar she and her daughter set up. The altar, which took five hours to construct, included tons of bright orange marigolds; portraits of their family, friends and pets dogs; papel picado (paper decorations), and food their loved ones enjoyed — Jarritos soda, nopales (cactus), pozole (stew) and cacahuates (peanuts) — “My grandma loved those,” Garcia said.

Savaya Taylor, 5, is all smiles after having her face painted by Gregoria Martinez during the Oceanside Dia de los Muertos Festival in Oceanside , CA on Sunday, October 24, 2021. Spearheaded by many and headed by Friends of Oceanside Dia de los Muertos and Chema and Manuel Navarro of Por Siempre Car Club, the festival will continue this tradition and has moved back to Downtown Oceanside where it began for its 20th celebratory year.

(Sandy Huffaker/For the San Diego Union-Tribune)

Throughout the area, spectators donned Day of the Dead face paint or masks; many wore embroidered shirts and marigold headbands. Vendors sold artisan crafts and traditional dresses and other clothing.

Dances included Danza de los Diablos, or Dance of the Devils, and Danza de los Rubios, or Dance of the Blond Ones. Sangre Mestiza, a ballet folklorico group, also performed traditional Mexican dances.

Along Pier View Way dozens of shiny, colorful lowriders were lined up, some with altars decorating, or spilling out, of their trunks.

“It was all from the heart,” said Chema Navarro, of Por Siempre Car Club, which sponsored the car show. “The community just came together so beautifully.”

Navarro, whose husband, Manuel Navarro, serves as president of the car club, said about 80 vehicles and motorcycles were on display. Among them was the couple’s red ’65 Ford Thunderbird, decorated with black Day of the Dead-inspired pinstripe designs.

Mariachi del Mar — a quintet — closed out the event with a rendition of Cielito Lindo as the sun set and vendors began packing up.

Organizers said it was successful, though they had no estimates of the crowd. Nykiel said she was happy the event returned downtown and that the city proclaimed Sunday Oceanside Day of the Dead.
“I was ecstatic,” she said.