Townspeople of San Juan Cosalá gathered on the village plaza early Monday, November 2 to pitch in to restore the monumental Day of the Dead Altar that was partially destroyed in a accidental fire the previous night.
Pegged as lakeside’s largest memorial altar, the spectacular display was mounted throughout the day on November 1, utilizing more than 10,000 crepe paper marigolds and giant paper maché skulls hand-crafted by local volunteers since early October. Other decorative elements included bundles of natural marigolds, colored sawdust carpets and hundreds of votive lights dedicated to deceased villagers.
The project was completed prior to the evening inauguration of the second cultural festival organized as an offering to Teomichinsihutsin, the Spirit of Lake Chapala. Minutes after the altar was illuminated, the front side went up in flames, inadvertently ignited by one of the candles. More than half of the paper flowers were quickly reduced to ashes and the framework holding them badly scorched. The conflagration was squelched by a quickly formed bucket brigade. Nobody was injured, other than eyewitnesses afflicted by broken hearts.
The next morning volunteers joined forces to whip up a new batch of the golden paper flowers and assist in repairing the display for a successful second festival kickoff held that night.