Hollywood Forever Day of the Dead

On Día de los muertos, I attended the event at Hollywood Forever. I recently moved to Hollywood so I only had to walk to 2 blocks to reach the cemetery. It was interesting to see the crowd that came to this event. I am disappointed in myself, that I didn't make more of an effort to attend a community event in addition to the one at Hollywood Forever. I was told last year that the event there is definitely not geared towards the community. I saw people getting drunk there. I saw white people in calavera makeup and even some wearing Halloween costumes. I wonder how many Latinxs who live in Hollywood can actually afford to attend this event. Overall, the event felt so lavish and even disrespectful. Día de los muertos is becoming one big marketable Mexican party for people who are looking to steal the beautiful parts of our culture. I did see some Chicana art for display in one of the rooms. I wonder how much the artists were charged to display their art at this event. On the way out at the end of the night, we saw so many hot dog vendors lined up Santa Monica blvd. That felt the most like the community coming out, rather than this very commercial event that I attended.