Friends and family gathered to remember and pray for their lost loved ones at the Dia de los Muertos Festival in Saint James Park with car shows, art exhibits and live music.

The 7th annual celebration of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, was held on Oct. 22 and took up a fairly large section of the downtown San Jose park.

Pathways were very narrow and would caus e congestion if many people stopped to look at a tent.  There were not many areas in the park to sit and unwind, except inside vendor tents and in front of the music stage. There was limited space to rest with a group.

The event did not feel overcrowded, even with the narrow trails and lack of lounge areas.

The fields featured vendors selling Day of the Dead related products and tents hosting art activities like painting sugar skulls or designing t-shirts.

Crowds concentrated around the merchandise, mainly bright hand-painted ceramic skulls, sugar skull themed clay statues and multicolored ornaments for the home.

Artists shared their work in small galleries inside tents. Local San Jose artist, Francisco Franco, showcased his paintings of famous pop culture and historical icons like Frida Kahlo and Marilyn Monroe in calavera make up.

One of the most popular sections of the park was the car show, where each car had a shrine honoring the owner’s lost love ones. Much of the crowd took photos around the vehicles.

The cars were classic American muscle cars and low riders, painted in vibrant colors like orange, deep red and blue, airbrushed with elaborate designs and chrome work.

Live entertainment from Mexican dance groups and musicians played throughout the day.

A large crowd-drawing event was the Ballet Folklorico, which showcased traditional styles of dancing from each region of Mexico. The female dancers’ long, elaborate, multicolored skirts as well as the wide brimmed sombreros of the men intensified the performances.

A variety of musicians played on stage, including mariachi bands playing covers of other popular Mexican mariachi groups’ music. In between bands, local DJs would come up to the stage and play a mix of modern top 40 pop songs and popular Latin music as well.

Lucha libre, Mexican professional wrestling famous for its acrobatics and bright costumes, had wrestlers fight in the ring every hour for the start of the event. It was not a crowd favorite, evidenced by the small audience it would draw.

An entire area provided bounce houses for children and tents where people could buy and make their own sugar skulls. After painting these skulls, attendees could leave them as offerings on altars made in their homes or keep them as souvenirs.