The difference between Día de los Muertos and Halloween: Today So Far

• Día de los Muertos celebrations have been growing in the Seattle area. This holiday is not the same as Halloween.
• Seattle wants to put its money where its graffiti is.
• The latest court conclusion over Everett's bikini barista dress code states that the ordinance is unconstitutional.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for October 31, 2022.

Happy Halloween everybody! It's the most wonderful time of the year, in my opinion, so I hope you're having a great day.

Following Halloween, you might notice another event taking place over the next two days — Día de los Muertos. Last week, I mentioned that many cultures across the globe have holidays and events around this time that share a lot of themes. Día de los Muertos is one of them. It's celebrated across Mexico and is a time to reflect on loved ones who have passed away. Skull imagery is common along with a range of other traditions. This holiday takes place on Nov. 1-2, right after Halloween, but unlike the creepy, spooky holiday the United States is familiar with, Día de los Muertos has a more joyful vibe.

"It's not Halloween," Judy Avitia-Gonzalez told Seattle Now. "Everybody has gotten mixed up now that it has become more widespread in the United States. It's celebrated very differently throughout Mexico. For example, my family is from northern Mexico and it is celebrated from Nov. 1-2. Nov. 1 being the day for children who have passed, Día de los Angelitos, and Nov. 2 ... where you go and share space with your loved ones who have passed, you take food to the cemetery, you clean up, decorate, bring flowers and celebrate with them."

Avitia-Gonzalez co-founded the Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery in White Center with Jake Prendez. The gallery has featured work from more than 40 artists over the past month on the theme of Día de los Muertos.

"Here in the United States, Chicanos have put their own spin on Día de los Muertos," Prendez said. "Even the way it is celebrated in LA versus San Antonio, versus Seattle, is going to be different."

Prendez said that when he moved to the Seattle area seven years ago, there were three local events for the holiday, with altars honoring those who passed on. Food, drinks, candles, photos and more, which were loved by the deceased, would be placed at the altars. Today, he notes a lot more is going on with vendors, art, and other happenings.

"I've really seen the celebration grow, and from these three that I knew of, now we're getting emails from all over the place," for more and more Día de los Muertos events, Prendez said.

"To me it shows that communities are recognizing their Latinx folks ... I think it just shows that we're here and it's changing the face of Seattle for the better."

Check out the full conversation with Seattle Now here.

You would have thought that bikini barista news was so 2017. Well, it's back now that yet another court has ruled on Everett's barista dress code. A few years ago, Everett passed an ordinance that regulated attire at bikini barista drive-thrus. If you don't recall that story, perhaps you'll remember the term "anal cleft" that became a news content sensation across headlines, TV, and radio coverage. Yes, the coverage was a bit ridiculous ... clearly, it's supposed to be called the "intergluteal cleft," or the "cleftal horizon" depending on whether you're referencing an x or y axis. Reporters dissected Everett's dress code to explain it to the public, but in short, it came down to covering up your bottom at a barista stand (if you call it a "plumber's crack," however, then it's legal).

Fast forward to 2022, and now a judge has ruled that Everett's dress code is unconstitutional — its rules target women and not men. So it's back to the drawing board, or in this case, the negotiation table for lawyers. The judge has ordered the city and a group of baristas to meet up and discuss how to proceed. For now, it seems that Everett's cover-up orders are nixed, just in time for temps to dip into the 30s. Read more here.

In Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell is hyping his budget proposal to combat graffiti throughout town. The mayor wants $940,000 to pay for graffiti removal, promotion of public street art in place of tags, and things like graffiti abatement kits. Such kits will include tools that any person can use to clean up graffiti. Read more here.

And just because it is Halloween, here are a few other seasonal stories from KUOW.org:

• 'Goosebumps' is turning 30 — the scariest part is how old that makes you​​​​​​​
• My mom passed down her love of horror to me — and a big lesson about courage
• Unfounded fears about rainbow fentanyl become the latest Halloween boogeyman​​​​​​​
• KUOW's League of Murder Creatures
• K-Boo-O-W spooky stories on KUOW Shorts

AS SEEN ON KUOW

King County Police Officers Guild President Mike Mansanarez says their latest contract includes a 20% pay raise over the next three years, which should help them hire more officers. The latest contract ratified by King County’s 633 sergeants and deputies will also pave the way for the King County Sheriff’s Office to implement body-worn cameras. (Amy Radil / KUOW)

DID YOU KNOW?

The movie "Spectre" opens with James Bond walking through a Día de los Muertos parade in Mexico City. The entire background of the mission is set against costumes, paper flowers, and giant skeletons associated with the holiday. When the film was made, however, there was no such parade celebrated in Mexico City for the Day of the Dead. It was basically concocted as a cool intro to the film. When audiences in Mexico City saw "Spectre" on movie screens in 2015, it got folks thinking and ultimately inspired a massive parade that takes place today. In 2016, about 250,000 people attended the city's firs Día de los Muertos parade. Props and wardrobe from the film were used in the event.

People in Mexico City realized they had an opportunity, so a couple things happened after "Spectre." Mexico's Tourism Board figured that millions of people would see the on-screen parade and want to come to town to experience something like it. It was also seen as a way to highlight pre-Columbian Mexican culture (opinions are divided on whether Día de los Muertos goes back to before European influence, but it is viewed by many as a way to highlight beliefs and traditions going back to Aztec culture). The parade has become a fixture of the holiday, usually taking place before the traditional Nov. 1-2 events.

This has been pointed to as an example of the Pizza Effect, which is when something travels outside of its source, goes through an evolution, and then returns to influence the original culture. Another example is the jack-o-lantern. Halloween can source many of its traditions to Ireland, where people originally carved faces into turnips for the holiday. When the Irish came to North America, they began using native pumpkins instead. It worked so well that the use of pumpkins for this tradition traveled back over to Ireland.

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