In the United States, when a loved one dies, grievance is typically accompanied by silence and dark colors. However, in Mexico, it is quite the opposite. Every year at the beginning of November, families in Mexico celebrate the lives of those who have passed with Día de los Muertos.

For the past six years, Casa Azul has brought this spirit to Greensboro.

On Friday Nov. 4, and Saturday Nov. 5, Casa Azul hosted its sixth annual Día de los Muertos celebration at LeBauer Park and the Greensboro Central Library.

Casa Azul, created in 2010, is a Greensboro organization that celebrates Hispanic heritage.

“Casa Azul is an organization that started to promote Latino art, Latino culture and local Latino artists,” said Claudia Femenias, the president of Casa Azul’s board of directors. Femenias went on to talk about the origin of Casa Azul’s Día de Los Muertos festival.

“This was our first program,” she said. “We wanted to create this festival and make it a tradition. I feel very proud of the event. We’ve tried really hard to respect the tradition.

“(This event) means a lot to me. I’m not from Mexico, and this is not a tradition that I celebrate in my country. I’m from Chile, so I have learned from (the other directors) much more about it — how they celebrate it, how they embrace it and the meaning for the families.”

The celebration featured an exhibit of eight different carefully decorated altars, called ofrendas, as well as performances from Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Los Viejitos dance company and Ballet Folklorico Mexican Tradition on Friday night.

Frank Siapno, an Early College student, explained why he came to the event.

“I decided to go to this event because I have known of Día de los Muertos,” he said. “But I wanted to have a fuller integration of the actual detail and time that comes with these presentations of celebrations.”

Femenias added that her favorite part of the celebration is the ofrendas exhibit.

“I love the second day,” she said, referring to the second day of the festival, when the exhibit is more heavily emphasized. “The performances are fun, but my favorite part is seeing the families teach their children about the culture through the ofrendas.”

The ofrendas are an integral part of Día de los Muertos. Each altar is intricately designed, including tissue paper flowers, sugar skulls, photos and food ranging from fruit and bread, called pan de muerto, to ice cream and Starbucks.

Volunteers from high schools and colleges all over the Triad came to help with the event.

Alex Burke, a junior at High Point University, explained why she decided to volunteer with Casa Azul.

“I came through my Spanish class in college right now,” said Burke. “It is a service-learning class and part of the aspect of learning is volunteering and doing service in the Hispanic community.”

Frank Siapno summed up the theme of the festival:

“The Day of the Dead isn’t really for sadness,” he said. “It’s for remembrance of the good times of what the family member or the dead meant for their families and the people that care for them.”