DAY OF THE DEAD FESTIVAL LIVES UP TO OLD TRADITION.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

Thousands gathered at festivals around Los Angeles on Saturday, celebrating Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, by painting their faces as spirits and setting up altars to deceased loved ones.

At the daylong Festival de la Gente - Festival of the People - along the Sixth Street Bridge connecting downtown Los Angeles to the largely Latino community of Boyle Heights, Rosamaria Marquez prepared an altar dedicated to her 47-year-old brother, who died of Lou Gehrig's disease.

``For me this is about remembering and not forgetting,'' said Marquez as she knelt, gingerly adjusting a handful of incense placed in a ceramic vase on an altar set up along the curb.

``My brother loved incense,'' said the Highland Park resident and art gallery owner.

While the idea may seem macabre to many North Americans, Dia de los Muertos is seen as a celebratory time in Mexico and parts of Central America. The day, which falls on Nov. 2, comes from the pre-Hispanic tradition of honoring the dead.

The Meso-American cultures, which originally celebrated the tradition in August, believed on that night the dead would return, but unlike most Western cultures, death was viewed as an extension of life. Today, many in Mexico and parts of Central America decorate the tombstones of dead relatives and eat with them late at night.

``This is what keeps us connected to our ancestors,'' said Azucena Casteneda, who attended the festival with her husband and four children. ``Yes,'' her husband, Ivan D'Alonso added. ``And this is a celebration of our culture.''

On Monday night, D'Alonso, who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and his family will sit down to a candlelight midnight meal with their dead relatives.

``This is not scary for us; it's our culture,'' he said.

Along the bridge Saturday, dozens of artisans hawked their wares, from stone jewelry to paintings and ceramic sculptures of perhaps the most recognized Western symbol of the holiday: the skeleton, or ``muerto,'' often mockingly dressed as the living.

Some practitioners will paint their face as a spirit so they won't scare off the dead.

Miguel Zarate, a 29-year-old Sun Valley resident, said his strictly Catholic, Mexican family never embraced the indigenous tradition. But he, like many others attending the festival, gravitated to it after learning more about his ancestral roots.

``It's cool to believe that you can come back and party with the dead,'' he said, adding that he planned on putting up a makeshift altar to his late uncle in the back of his 1952 cobalt blue Chevrolet Bel Air.

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3) Papier-mache skeletons, top, greet Dia de los Muertos festival participants along the Sixth Street Bridge in East Los Angeles on Saturday. At left stands a giant Grim Reaper. Kids got into the holiday, above, by coloring skeleton faces. Dia de los Muertos, which falls on Tuesday, is an ancient tradition that welcomes back the spirits of the dead.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News