BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It’s a yearly Hispanic holiday that is now more popular than ever, especially at the Kern County Fairgrounds.
“We are celebrating life, and it’s really important that we have all these altars,” said Jay Tamsi, President and CEO of the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “We have about 80 altars here.”
That’s compared to the around ten that Tamsi said they had in events from the past. He says the traditional Mexican holiday has blown up since the release of a popular Disney movie.
“Dia De Los Muertos is celebrated all over the nation now,” said Tamsi. “It got that much bigger when the movie ‘Coco’ came out.”
It’s not just a one-day event like Halloween. Usually, it lasts from the first to the second of November, but it can go longer, like this year in Bakersfield.
On Nov. 2, there was another Dia De Los Muertos event at Union Cemetery. Families gathered to visit their loved ones, and to watch traditional singing and dance performances, as well as a Catrina contest, which is symbolic with the holiday.