Remembering the dead: Dia de los Muertos celebration returns to historic California town

The annual All Souls Day celebration — marking Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead — returned Tuesday night to the historic former Mexican mining town of Hornitos in the rolling foothills about 20 miles northeast of Merced.

Hornitos Patrons Club vice-president Delores Cabezut-Ortiz said organizers counted 521 people in attendance, with some traveling from as far away as Rosarita, Mexico.

Last year, the celebration was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the sun disappeared behind a far ridge, the people gathered in the plaza for a silent candlelit procession through the dark town and up a hill along a luminaria-lined gravel road to St. Catherine of Siena Church’s cemetery to honor those who have died.

Father Steve Bulfer of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Mariposa led a service at the grave of Doña Candelaria de Sapien, who restarted the tradition over 100 years ago.

After candles and marigolds were placed at grave sites of family, friends and even strangers, masses in the small church and a dinner in the town’s social hall were held.

This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 8:29 AM.