This month Sayulita Life has decided to give back and donate to the Sayulita Church. Father Donato from our local church said they could use the donation money to buy a big loud-speaker, so that they could place it outside of the church for this year’s Dia de Los Muertos holiday, so that people can still hear mass while avoiding being crowded in the church or in an unsafe large gathering for mass on Monday, November 2nd, 2020.
As many already know, this year’s Dia de Los Muertos Festival was canceled in order to keep the health and safety of our community as a top priority due to the continued threat of Covid-19. The festival's theme/message for this year is to learn what Covid-19 has taught us, and to continue to stay home, to take care of ourselves, and to take care of each other. Furthermore, the Dia de Los Muertos planning committee of Sayulita decided to close the cemetery and the annual midnight processional, which traditionally fills the streets with people marching and singing all the way from the plaza to Sayulita’s cemetery near Playa de los Muertos.
The following statement comes from the planning organization's Facebook page explaining the cancelation of this year’s annual festival:
"We have received many questions and comments about whether there will be a festival or whether there will be decoration in our town as in every year, but this time it is something that is not in our hands and although we would love to see our streets full of life and color, the situation in the world does not allow it, since with Covid-19 we cannot have crowds of people...but we have decided to making this video so that the spark is still alive, and we continue to celebrate our dead; perhaps this 2020 not in a festival, but inside our homes. We invite you to put your altar for your loved one at home."
You can watch the amazing YouTube Video the festival organizers have created & put together for us this year. You can also read more about the festival and its cancellation by visiting the group's Facebook Page.
The church will still have its normal mass on Monday, November 2nd, 2020, with the first mass starting at noon, and the other mass at 7:00 p.m. The church will have limited seating (only 2 people per church pew/bench, with 32 benches total), and will use all of the proper Covid safety precautions, including required use of fask masks, use of anti-bacterial gel upon entry, limited seating capacity, and social distancing. The loud-speaker from Sayulita Life’s donation will be installed outside of the church to project the mass to the pueblo, so that people can stay home, yet still take part in celebrating the holiday and honoring their faith.
We wish everyone a safe Dia de Los Muertos as you honor your loved ones.
*Since its founding in 2004, SayulitaLife.com has been dedicated to giving back to the community of Sayulita. In our 15th year as a company, Sayulita Life has created the “Giving Fund”, where we have pledged to donate $5,000 pesos EVERY MONTH to a local charity or cause. Read more at https://www.sayulitalife.com/giving-back.
*Written by: Aanya Sheikh-Taheri