Community Corner

Colorful Day of the Dead Celebration Draws 900

Holiday altars and artwork will remain on display at the San Juan Capistrano library.

The beautiful altars and artwork that helped draw 900 people to theSunday for a will be on display for at least the next week.

San Juan Capistrano resident Carmen Escamilla, the assistant principal at Los Alisos Intermediate, was among those who displayed altars in memory of the dead. Escamilla crafted hers, a table topped with black and white photos and decorated with orange flowers, in honor of her father-in-law, Richard Bruce Duffy, who passed away less than one year ago.

All-day Sunday kids decorated sugar skulls and colored masks while face painters worked non-stop to decorate little faces with various designs. The courtyard stage played host to San Juan Capistrano's own Capistrano Community Mariachi Program musicians, the Dana Hills High School jazz band, San Juan Ballet Folklorico and Aztec Dancers, according to librarian Teri Garza.

Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This was the seventh year I've overseen this event. Don't know if it was the perfect weather or not but it was the smoothest one we've ever [had]," she said.

George Newnam's life-size House of Skeletons display has packed up, but can be viewed at the Los Angeles Public Library this week and then at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana this weekend.

Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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