On Halloween night we decided to head over to Mountain View Cemetery for the 5th Annual Night for All Souls. It started on Friday October 30 as a celebration for the deceased with candles, shrines, flowers, and other personal memorials. They also opened the cemetery registry to locate specific graves and there was a world tea ceremony in honour of the First Nations peoples.

On Saturday October 31, the shrines were all lit up and we began by visiting the shrines.

Inside the cemetery’s hall they were hosting a Day of the Dead celebration: “Vancouver’s Helping Mex y Can Society co-hosts an evening of Mexican traditions to honour the dead. Featuring mariachi, ancient dances of the Aztecs, and traditional refreshments such as café de olla and pan de meurtos.”

And here are some less-than-friendly photos. We wandered around the cemetery and the various tombs, but it didn’t feel creepy at all. Oddly, the photos turned out much creepier with the flash than it felt. The atmosphere at Mountain View Cemetery was very welcoming and more of a celebratory feeling for our ancestors and deceased family members.

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