Turkey to celebrate Day of Dead

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The events will start Oct 31 with the opening of the Altar of the Dead.

One of Mexico’s most important celebrations, “Dia de los Muertos” (The Day of the Dead), will be celebrated in Istanbul at the beginning of next month with events at the Cervantes Institute.

Cervantes Institutes in Ankara and Istanbul are preparing a special program to depict the significance of the day in Mexican culture. The celebrations will be held on All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, and All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2.

The events will start Oct. 31 with the opening of the Altar of the Dead. The events, which include literary and cinematic activities, will host Mexican Ambassador Jaime Garcia Amaral and other officials, who will discuss the importance of the day while providing information on Mexican traditions.

The festival that eventually became the modern Day of the Dead used to be held in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, around the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess known as the “Lady of the Dead,” corresponding to the modern Catrina.

Two Mexican authors, Alvaro Uribe and Tedi Lopez Mills, will also attend the festivities to give a conference.