Hot Spots: A Halloween alternative - Celebrate life with the dead Oct 23, 2008 By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt If you’re not the type who likes to carve pumpkins and dress up like a zombie, here’s a fresh alternatie to the same old Halloween doings: a bit of ancient pre-Columbian custom mixed with some Catholic All Saints’ Day ritual and a dash of contemporary Latin American folk art, adding up to Day of the Dead, a traditional Hispanic holiday that coincides with our Halloween.

In Mexico, El Dia de los Muertos is a major event, a reminder that death is a natural part of life, and that a time set aside for remembering lost loved ones can still be a joyful occasion. The best-known festivities are in Oaxaca, where families build altars and decorate the gravesides of departed relatives with candles, flowers, food and photos.

Tourists flock to the cemeteries along with the locals and vendors sell sugar skulls, skeletal figures and “dead bread.” It’s a grand reunion of the dead with the living, a celebration of the ongoing cycle of life. But you don’t have to fly down to Mexico for a real Day of the Dead experience. At Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, the Dia de los Muertos Celebration will take place from 4 to 11 p.m. Nov. 1. There will be food, crafts, music and community altars.

More information: (323) 447-0999 or www.ladayofthedead.com . Not far from the cemetery is Olvera Street, the Mexican heart of downtown L.A., where local folks have nine days of fiesta, peaking with plenty of music, dancing, puppet shows and processions Nov. 1. More information: (213) 716-1373 or www.olvera-street.com .