Todos Los Santos: Pinoy Style

On All Saints' Day, people commemorate all the saints - and their dead relatives - by bringing flowers, candles, and food offerings to their graves. 

According to Dr Lafarge, people going to the cemeteries remain quiet and solemn, in France. Nobody stays in the graveyard long enough to hold family reunions at the site. In the Philippines, however, today is another perfect reason for family and friends to congregate and celebrate... only, the party is brought to the grave site (perhaps to allow the deceased relatives to join in the festivities?). Today is even a perfect excuse to wear one's best clothes to impress others.

Today, my sister and I braved the long traffic queue to get to the Sta Cruz public and private cemeteries (with our aunts) to light candles at our dead relatives' graves.

The candle-lighting and offering then became a reunion of sorts because we caught up with a few of our cousins. Some we see every other week; others we see only on All Saints' Day. Take note that this photo was taken past 9pm.

In fact, we were not the only ones to bump into relatives. The cemetery took on the life of a fiesta. The place was so packed that some had to climb mausoleums to find space (or perhaps, just for the fun of being on top). I even heard some teenagers singing "happy birthday" to their peers. Only after 10pm did the evening crowd start to get thin, as seen below.

Traffic flow finally picked up speed close to midnight, as people started to pack up and go home, making sure that the graves remain well-lit. 

With such a lively atmosphere, how could one think that the cemeteries are such scary places?

Happy All Saints' Day!