City’s first Day of the Dead festival includes mariachi, lantern parade

Mexican celebration also will have food vendors, tequila tasting.

If you can’t make the 1,350mile trip to Mexico City, Roswell is holding its first Día de los Muertos festival and parade.

The Day of the Dead is a Mexican tradition honoring those who have died with food, marigolds, dancing and music. The tradition was depicted in the 2017 animated movie “Coco” and the 2015 James Bond flick “Spectre.”

Roswell’s celebration will be Nov. 2, a Saturday, from 2 to 8 p.m. at Roswell City Hall, 38 Hill St. There will be Mexican dancers and a mariachi band performing.

It’s free to enter, but there will be vendors selling food, such as empanadas and tamales. Face-painting will also be free, but tips would be appreciated.

For $45 a person, there will be a tequila tasting. That includes nine tasting tokens, a souvenir cup, a mixologist who specializes in tequila cocktails and a chef making tequila-inspired meals. Buy tickets online at dayofthedeadatl.com.

A lantern parade starts at dusk, about 7:20 p.m.

“The community will gather for closing lantern parade along marigold-filled streets in downtown Roswell, led by a marching band,” the city wrote online. If you don’t bring your own lantern, you can purchase your own kit there for $5 to $25.

Marigolds are the day’s traditional flower, explains the Houston Chronicle, because the bright scent and bright colors help guide

a way for the souls as they come back to enjoy their favorite foods.

The city is also holding twohour workshops for people to drink wine and make their own paper mache marigolds, with the names of lost loved ones, to line the streets. Those will be held Wednesday and Oct. 30 for $45 per person. Buy tickets online at dayofthedeadatl.com.