The community altar at Muertos Fest in San Antonio is filled with photos of the locals.
(CNN) -
The strong aroma of marigolds fills the air as Magaly Sáenz leans over photos of her loved ones to place a special offering of bread on the altar of her bakery.
The bread of the dead is one of the many offerings that Sáenz places on the altar of his community each year, but the pandemic has given new meaning to the sacred experience.
"It is very easy to get lost in that pain and sorrow," Saenz said.
"This will be an opportunity for us to find some healing."
Sáenz is a co-owner of Tres Leches café in Phoenix, Arizona.
He bakes pan de muerto for the Day of the Dead for sale in addition to having a community altar in his store.
The offering is a place where people can place photos of their loved ones who have died along with offerings for them.
Magaly Sáenz said she likes to take her family to Chicano Park in San Diego because the park celebrates Mexican American culture and traditions.
Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday to honor the dead on November 1 and 2.
Unlike the spooky Halloween, this holiday is full of life and celebration.
advertising
With more than 1,181,000 deaths from coronavirus and counting worldwide, people in 2020 are no strangers to death.
This pandemic affects Latin American countries more strongly than average.
Countries like Ecuador and Mexico are currently in the top 10 for the highest death rate from coronavirus, which are higher than in the United States.
MIRA: The Day of the Dead in Mexico: “if they have to kill me tomorrow, let them kill me at once”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a decree last Thursday declaring three days of national mourning during the Day of the Dead celebrations.
Unlike most community events, which have been reduced or canceled this year, Saenz makes her offering bigger than years ago.
"We know that many ... our community has lost a loved one due to COVID," Saenz said.
"We want to be able to build an offering big enough so that everyone can come and honor their loved ones and keep their memory."
The offering at Tres Leches Café has a photo of Magaly Saenz's couple's grandparents.
The grandfather passed away, but the grandmother still lives.
She is cautious about bakery safety during the pandemic, but said the offering was suitable for social distancing even before the coronavirus spread across the country.
It is disrespectful to move someone else's offer, which helps to keep it clean.
New this year, participants will have to socially distance themselves and wear face masks.
While Sáenz is grateful to celebrate the Day of the Dead with her community, this was not the celebration she had in mind.
She is a first generation Mexican American and her family hails from Chihuahua, Mexico.
She planned to take her eight children ages 18, 17, 12, 10, 9, 5, 1, and 4 months to the Cruces, Chihuahua cemetery for the first time to experience the celebrations.
Sáenz also planned to bring Mexico to his grandmother, who will turn 93 this year.
But Sáenz learned last week that the cemetery where her grandfather and other relatives are buried would close to prevent people from gathering.
"I remember him saying last week, 'This could be the last year I can go,'" Saenz said.
"He will not be able to bring flowers to my grandfather, to my aunt, and it is hard."
Flowers are an important part of the celebration, specifically the marigolds, said museum art consultant Evelyn Orantes.
Orantes is originally from Guatemala but now lives in Oakland, California, with her husband Joaquin Newman.
They help museums and local organizations with Day of the Dead celebrations.
This year, Orantes and Newman will lead a virtual paper marigold workshop at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
The pandemic forced them to transition the event online, but Orantes is excited for the opportunity to celebrate with more people.
"My family, friends or my community cannot necessarily all go to Washington, DC, to witness what we do there," said Orantes.
"But now, we can share our traditions, our stories and our work with a really wide audience."
The marigold has a pungent odor, which guides souls to the altar, according to Orantes.
Newman helps make his family offering and focuses on the light that each family member brought into their lives.
Evelyn Orantes and Joaquin Newman make an altar for their ancestors every year in their home.
"We have to find ways to celebrate life and not be able to think of death as this inescapable evil," Newman said.
Your offering this year will honor deceased family members, including Orantes' grandfather.
He was a baker, so he made sure to include lots of baked goods.
Across the country, people also tailor their offerings to their cultural and family backgrounds.
"I think a lot of people think that indigenous peoples are trapped in the past," Orantes said.
"We are contemporary and our traditions evolve with us."
In Oakland, see some of the members of the Asian community placing a Buddha statue or dim sum on their altars.
And the trend extends beyond California.
In San Antonio, filmmaker Jim Mendiola sees offerings of beer cans and cowboy boots.
Mendiola was hired to create a virtual celebration video for the Day of the Dead in Hemisfair, one of the largest festivals marking the holiday in America.
Almost 100,000 people attended the celebration last year.
The centerpiece of this event is the community altar, which is a towering offering towering 11 feet tall, filled with photos, flowers, and more.
Mendiola described the festival as a strange mix of celebration and sadness.
"In the midst of all the festivities, it was not uncommon to see someone standing there looking at the altar and finding their father or brother or sister and crying, having an emotional moment," Mendiola said.
The community altar has been reduced this year, but unlike the main virtual celebrations, it is still in person.
The festival also has a virtual altar, and anyone from all over the world can submit photos of their loved ones.
Additionally, the festival organizers selected a handful of families who have attended the festival over the years to design their own offerings in person.
Mendiola videotaped the event and saw offerings honoring a variety of people, from the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the uncle of someone who passed away from the coronavirus.
Another essential part of Día de los Muertos celebrations are musical performances, Mendiola said.
The pandemic allowed the festival to host a star-studded lineup, including Chris Pérez, who was married to Grammy-winning Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla Pérez.
The Selena tribute pays tribute to the 25th anniversary of her death.
Jim Mendiola recorded a video in front of the community altar in San Antonio for this year's virtual celebration of the Day of the Dead in Hemisfair.
Many of the featured artists would not have been able to travel to San Antonio for the festival, but the virtual performances made the musicians more accessible.
Accessibility is a common theme in all Day of the Dead celebrations this year.
People would normally only be exposed to specific types of celebrations in their community, but now they can virtually join hundreds of events online.
Sáenz believes that this represents a great learning moment for her children and the general public to learn more than if they had attended a single event.
The virtual nature of most celebrations also serves as a reminder that there is a pandemic and that people must protect each other, he said.
The importance of the catrinas on the Day of the Dead 3:22
It is also an opportunity for her to reach out to those who are mourning the loss of their loved ones, specifically due to covid-19, while teaching them about their heritage.
"Especially at this time, even people who would not normally celebrate the Day of the Dead, could find some comfort by setting up an altar in their home and celebrating with their loved ones," Saenz said.
Day of the Dead