Dia de Los Muertos Kings Beach

Halloween might just be North Lake Tahoe’s favorite holiday.  Costume parades and neighborhood celebrations give way to freakish balls in airport hangars and casinos.  Local talent is on display from visual artists to magicians and jugglers.  With tricks and treats for all ages, Kings Beach is an epicenter of the Halloween magic.  The neighborhood around Happy Cabin is especially lively at dusk, when the lakeside communities around the Old Brockway Golf Course are trick-or-treating favorites, swarmed with children stuffing sacks full with candy.

This year, Halloween falls in the middle of the week, so we can’t be at the cabin to trick-or-treat and pass out candy. Instead, I hope to experience another autumn tradition that is taking root in Kings Beach with the help of a small group of committed locals—Dia de Los Muertos Kings Beach. Dia de Los Muertos (“Day of the Dead”) is a Mexican holiday celebrated by people of Mexican heritage throughout the world.  The multi-day celebration is a time to honor loved ones who have passed on and help them along on their spiritual journey with prayers and gifts.  Dia de Los Muertos traditions are steeped in history and legends passed down from the Aztecs.  Families build colorful altars called “ofrendas,” decorated with photos and mementos.  Sugar skulls called “calaveras” are lovingly crafted and decorated with brightly colored paints and jewels. Celebrants visit their loved ones’ graves, bearing the deceased’s favorite food and drink, and gathering to share memories. 

I first experienced a version of this unique celebration in 1999, in a small Andean village in Ecuador where a tiny cemetery at the outskirts of town was festooned with colorful banners, flowers, and offerings for Dia de Los Difuntos (Day of the Deceased).  Families gathered for picnics, playing guitars and flutes.  Peals of laughter and the joyful noise of squealing children animated the well-kept graveyard, where life and death were celebrated together and memories passed joyfully from one generation to the next.  I loved it. 

In North Lake Tahoe, the tradition is centered at three sites—Kings Beach Library, Las Panchitas Restaurant, and Spindleshanks Restaurant at the Old Brockway Golf Course.  All three sites are walking distance from Happy Cabin, and each has set up an ofrenda to celebrate loved ones who have passed to the other side.  Visitors are invited to leave pictures, poems, notes, artwork or personal objects honoring the dead. 

Dia de Los Muertos Kings Beach lasts from October 25 to November 7. On Saturday, November 3, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., everyone is invite to a family-friendly reception on Secline Street, between Golden and Rainbow, across the street from the Kings Beach Library, to learn more about this tradition and contribute to the community ofrendas.    

To visit Happy Cabin during your trip to North Lake Tahoe / Tahoe Vista / Kings Beach, click here.