How Latinos in Edmonton are celebrating the Day of the Dead

Some Latinos in Edmonton are preparing to celebrate the Day of the Dead — or Día de los Muertos — this week.

The holiday, celebrated between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, is a time for people to reconnect with their dead loved ones and bring back fond memories.

Día de los Muertos is the holiday Angelica Cruz, owner of Mexican bakery La Morenita, looks forward to the most.

"Towards the end of September, everybody is like, 'OK, who's starting to sell pan de muerto? Where can we get it?"

Pan de muerto, a bread made in the weeks leading up to the holiday, is shaped like a circle to represent the circle of life, with bones and a skull on top, and sprinkled with sugar.

Angelica Cruz, owner of Mexican bakery La Morenita, makes pan de muerto for the Day of the Dead — or Día de los Muertos. (Miriam Valdes-Carletti)

And the scent and taste of orange blossom holds a special meaning.

"The spirits of your ancestors, your loved ones, the deceased — that's the memory it triggers," Cruz told CTV News Edmonton.

She bakes hundreds of loaves for the holiday but has a different relationship with it since her father died in 2020.

"I was more connected to it personally than it just being a festivity."

This year, Yereni Ramirez is putting a face onto her ofrenda — an altar with photos of dead loved ones and items that they loved.

Her cousin died two weeks ago in Mexico.

"It was very tragic," Ramirez told CTV News Edmonton. "He died in an accident so that makes me feel putting the ofrenda closer to him because I couldn't go to his [funeral] this year."

Yereni Ramirez's ofrenda for the Day of the Dead remembers and honours her family members. (Miriam Valdes-Carletti/CTV News Edmonton)

Ramirez's father died 18 years ago. He was a chocolate maker, and she puts chocolate on the ofrenda to honour him and the memories they shared.

"It always makes me think of him and the good times we spent in the cemetery with him when he was alive," Ramirez said.

Decorating the ofrenda is a tradition she's teaching her three daughters, reminding them of what Día de los Muertos is all about.

"It's a really nice day of the year," Ramirez said. "I can say you're in my heart, you are alive, you haven't gone, you're still here."