Many of these photos are among my favorites that I shot over the holiday. I thought about keeping these for the last Dia de los Muertos post, but then I was motivated to edit them first. So, here they are, from two events. The first was a La Catrina contest with large paper mache designs, and the second was the yearly performance by a local artist who dresses up as La Catrina and gives a show. I feel extra lucky to have attended this year, because there were actually four Catrinas wearing previous year’s costumes on stage. As each of the four Catrinas came on stage after another, each one seemed more spectacular than the last, until the last and main Catrina finally arrived in the monarch butterfly theme. I was glad I had my big zoom lens, but the black was still difficult to photograph. The white Catrina was easiest to capture in the dark, and editing the magenta ones has given me fits.

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Still to come: altars, ofrendas, the cemetery, and unrelated to Day of the Dead – giant alebrijes in Mexico City!