I have written in previous years about how Halloween has
been observed here in Loreto Bay – memorably the year we had a costume parade
up and down a section of the Paseo where most of the people were in the parade,
leaving only a few watching from the curb (http://livingloreto.blogspot.mx/2011/11/re-discovering-loreto-bay.html). On other years, I when I had neighbors with
young children living nearby, I have had a couple of the kids, escorted by
their doting parents, call at my door for candy – but at that time occupied
houses were few and far between so the pickings were slim for the little
trick-or-treaters.
But this year there was a big change in how we celebrated
Halloween, and I hope it becomes a new tradition that will continue to build
greater connections between us here in Loreto Bay and the surrounding community
in and around the town of Loreto. At
least in this part of Mexico, rather than Halloween being primarily a
“residential” activity, with kids going from door to door collecting candy in
their neighborhoods, the tradition here is mainly for kids to go to stores and
businesses in the town for their treats, and not to other homes. In the days before the 31st the
Wine Bar and several of the other business offices along the Paseo announced
that they would have treats available for kids and the Wine Bar invited
Homeowners to join them for the evening and see the kids in costume that called
for treats.
As your intrepid reporter, I felt obliged to cover this
event and so after work I settled in at the bar and soon the place was full of
people from Loreto Bay enjoying each other’s company and watching different
sports on the big screen TVs. Not long
afterwards the first kids arrived – and, consistent with my experience
celebrating Halloween in other places, the earlier in the evening, the younger
the costumed kids are. Likewise, with
the first arrivals, there were almost as many adults escorting them as there
were kids looking for candy.
Although this was not the first year that Will and Cynthia
have had Halloween candies available for kids, fortunately this year they had
stocked up, apparently anticipating a bigger turn out than in the past – and a
good thing they did! After the first few
“toddlers” had been and gone, and it was actually getting dark outside, there
began an almost steady stream of costumed kids – gradually increasing in age
and size as the night wore on. Along
with this shift the number of “parental escorts” declined and there was a
distinctly spooky feeling in the air for a while, as the sidewalks around the
traffic circle at the south end of the community became populated with a
growing collection of various ghosts, goblins and other things that go “bump”
in the night!
While much of this was familiar to me, and anyone else who
grew up practicing Halloween in most places in Canada and the US, I was struck
by several significant differences as well, with this Baja version of the
night. For instance there is the
greeting called out by the kids as they arrive at the door . . . “HALLOWEEN!” which
echoed up and down the street . . . short and to the point! No “Trick or Treat” or (dare I say, with the
risk of dating myself) “Halloween Apples”!
Probably this abbreviated call is language based, since the word
“Halloween” is pretty universally familiar and “Trick or Treat” is a more
complicated concept to express, particularly if you are translating it from a
Spanish perspective.
But the thing that stands out for me most as a memory of
that night were the costumes! First of
all, in a town the size of Loreto, fairly isolated in a remote part of the Baja
Peninsula, access to “store bought” costumes is almost non-existent. I did see a small display of a few witches’
hats, some small make-up kits and a few other accessories while grocery shopping
the week before in El Pescador, and while I didn’t check out the couple of
stores in town that have birthday type gifts for kids, I am sure there wasn’t
much more than that available elsewhere in town.
But it was not just the fact that almost all of the costumes
that night were home-made out of necessity – what impressed me even more was
the quality and detail of the many ones that came calling at the Wine Bar
during the evening. I was reminded of
“when I was a boy” back in the ‘60s, when making Halloween costumes from
scratch was the norm and there was a healthy sense of costume competition on
the streets of my neighborhood on that special night. But the time and effort that had obviously
gone into many of these kid’s costumes was consistently higher than I recall
seeing in recent years back in Canada – no “plastic mask (inevitably made in
China) with a garbage bag poncho” level of effort here!
On this Halloween we saw many more of the town’s people
bringing their costumed children out to Loreto Bay to make their rounds, and
from all appearances they appeared to be pleased with their candy
“harvest”! So we may be seeing the beginning of an
expansion of the Halloween spirit here in Loreto Bay, fueled by the availability
of candy from the many Grandparents (who may be missing young ones where they
come from) and while the kid’s incentive is obviously another source of candy,
perhaps their Mother’s may be motivated by the costume competition!
To round out the story, I was back at the Wine Bar two
nights later for their “Dia de Muertos” celebration with special musical
entertainment by the always popular Loretano guitarist Herzon, accompanied by
his son on percussion. This was an occasion
for another full house at the Bar and the musicians were channeling the
“spirit” of the occasion with their own costumed acknowledgement of the Day of
the Dead. I was feeling a bit “Devilish”
myself, and although the traditional look for the “day” is typically more of
that of a skeleton, I was moved to express an El Diablo theme for the
evening. 
Of course this was an adult affair – no costumed children
running around – and the treats were not of the candy variety, but mainly those
of alcohol and savory tapas snacks! But
with the haunting sounds of Herzon’s guitar and a happy crowd of Homeowners
enjoying that, and each other’s company, we enjoyed a second themed evening at
the Wine Bar in 48 hours.
When Loretanos include us in their celebration of Halloween,
and share their children’s excitement (and their own costume handiwork) with us
in exchange for a little candy – and we recognize their traditional Day of the
Dead, with the help of a local musician – perhaps the blending of these similar
but distinct traditions may create a new hybrid event in future years . . .
when a harmless celebration of death and the dark side becomes another way of
“Living Loreto”!
