September and October are busy months for Maria Calderon. She and her husband, Carlos, have become the go-to makers of sugar skulls in the Waukegan area, hand-crafting the traditional Mexican creations in preparation for the upcoming Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, holiday.
“This year we’ll do about 2,000 of them,” said Calderon. “It takes a lot of time to make them, but we like doing it the traditional way. It’s a way to keep that connection to what the holiday is about.”
Calderon has been working with the Waukegan Park District in preparation for its annual Día de Muertos/Day of the Dead festival Oct. 22 at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts. The event provides area residents a venue to celebrate the holiday with altar exhibits, art vendors, food, music, dance presentations and a sugar skull workshop.
“Waukegan has a very large Latino community, and this is a way to reach out to them,” said Josue Pasillas, communications supervisor of the Waukegan Park District. “It’s a way to learn about this tradition and for neighbors to get together and commemorate their ancestors.”
“Many people think of the Day of the Dead as ‘Mexican Halloween,’ because it’s so close to American Halloween,” Calderon said, as Día de Muertos is usually celebrated Nov. 1 and 2. “But that’s not what it’s about. It is a way to celebrate our ancestors’ life and death. There’s nothing to be sad about — it’s about commemorating them. We usually do this with a shrine or altar where we place pictures of the relatives who have left us. It has nothing to do with horror or scary costumes.”
Calderon said the Disney movie “Coco,” released in 2017, did a lot to popularize the holiday in the U.S.
“It got a lot more attention after that,” she said. “I think it also reminded people who maybe were born in Mexico but now live here that they could celebrate it here as well.”
Waukegan’s Día de Muertos will feature colorful altars in which people can bring photos of their loved ones.
“A big part of the day is the art and bright colors,” Pasillas said. “These altars are created to be beautiful, with flowers, as a way to celebrate.”
Visitors to the event will be treated to traditional Mexican music and folk dancing, as well as the chance to decorate their sugar skulls. The skulls that Calderon crafts fit easily in the palm of your hand and are made with just sugar and water. She uses a mold to form the shape, and it takes between 9 to 12 hours for them to dry to the right consistency. The white skulls are typically decorated in bright colors for the holiday.
The event will also feature “pan de muerto,” or a sweet Mexican bread often associated with the holiday.
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“That’s just another tradition we’re trying to follow,” Pasillas said.
While the time-consuming work of creating the sugar skulls can be difficult, Calderon is happy to do it if it means more people celebrate Día de Muertos.
“I like being a part of this event and reaching out to people about the holiday,” she said. “Some people may never have been to Mexico, but it’s part of the culture. It’s worth understanding.”
Día de Muertos/Day of the Dead
When: 1-4 p.m. Oct. 22
Where: Jack Benny Center for the Arts in Bowen Park, 39 Jack Benny Drive, Waukegan
Tickets: Free
Information: 847-360-4700; waukeganparks.org
Jeff Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.