El Día de los Muertos -- In Tucson

Tohono Chul Park After Dark

This year we attended two special events for El Día de los Muertos right here in Tucson. The first was at Tohono Chul Park & was called Park After Dark. It was free to the public. The park was lit with luminarias & lights & featured a play, handleable snakes, drummers, Flam Chen, bats & a bobcat -- for kids of all ages.

I didn't get any pictures of the snakes, but here are some of the bats & the bobcat. All these animals are wild. They are not pets, but they were injured & are not able to be returned to the wild.

The first bat is one of the smallest in the US & the 2nd is one of the largest.

The bobcat is with his handler. He will allow her to handle him in this way & to sort of pet his tail. Anything else is not a good idea. He has been declawed but his teeth are still very much intact.

Many performances for kids down here feature major Indian characters & this was no exception. This play was about how Coyote's funny bone was stolen by Mountain Lion while he was tending his ancestor's ofrenda & about how he got it back. You may recognize his ancestor.

You can see that Mountain Lion is sleeping with Coyote's funny bone in her paw.

Coyote enlists the help of some other desert creatures: Rattlesnake, Spider & Bat.

The Dambe Drummers played on their own & accompanied Flam Chen.

All Souls Procession

The All Souls Procession is usually held the 1st Sunday after November 2nd. This is a parade done entirely by people. They walk in memory of their loved ones, to make political statements, or just for fun. Most dress up appropriately for the event. This is the 1st year we went. I plan to go every year from now on.

We easily found a place to park & set ourselves up to watch the action. Fortunately, we were very close to where a band played.

A nice looking German Shepherd pup was across the street. We liked this picture of him.

There were thousands of people. These are just a few shots of them.

We saw this dog go right by us, but I wasn't able to get a picture. The next day, this picture was in the AZ Daily Star but in black & white. Although right for the event, I pulled this one off their website. This dog had my favorite costume of all.