The spirit of Halloween and Día de los Muertos took over Maxwell Street Market on Sunday.
Children decorated pumpkins and grabbed candy in anticipation of Halloween on Monday.
The market, now 110 years old, also embraced the traditions of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, set for Tuesday.
Children made calaveras, or sugar skulls, arranged marigolds and painted their faces.
“At the market, we want to celebrate culture period,” said Nikki Butler, who coordinates the market for the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. “It’s inclusive of everyone.”
Vianney Zermeno came dressed as the character Sam, a spooky creature with a burlap sack wrapped around its head, from the 2007 horror flick “Trick ‘r Treat.”
“We just came here to have fun,” said Vianney, with her dog dressed as an ice cream sundae.
Maritza Cervantes played classical guitar and sang her version of “acoustic hip-hop” or “Latin soul” with her band, the Luna Blues Machine.
She preformed with her sister Belinda. “We grew up singing together,” Maritza Cervantes said. They are influenced by their Mexican heritage and years living in Pilsen and the Back of the Yards neighborhood, she said.
“We’re a local Chicago band. ... It’s just lovely to be included” in the celebration, she said. “It gives us a chance to remember our ancestors, to think of our family who’ve passed and honor them.
“Being of Mexican heritage makes it even more special — that we get to be part of this great event,” Belinda Cervantes said.
One vendor who specializes in Day of the Dead handicrafts appreciates this weekend market more than all the others.
“It’s funny because we basically do it all year round, but today the organizers give us a spotlight” with a booth near the main stage, Raul Mendieta said.
He pointed to a pair of earrings made of beads, a wooden comb, all made by indigenous Mexicans. “It’s very creative. I really appreciate all of the handmade” crafts,” he said.
Mendieta was born in Chicago and met his wife, Alejandra Lopez, in Mexico City. She moved back with him to Chicago, where they’ve been selling items at the market for 10 years.
Day of the Dead is a holiday “that’s very ingrained in Mexican tradition,” Mendieta said. He has an ofrenda, or altar, at home with photos of his “dearly departed.”
“It’s interesting because the relationship we have with death, as a Mexican people, it’s not always fearful,” Mendieta said. “It’s more familiar. It’s like, we invite her into the house so she can connect us to our families that have passed away.”
Back at the stage, Mexican folk dances were performed by dozens of children and a few adults from the Ballet Folklorico de Chicago, a dance studio on the Northwest Side. The dances represented different Mexican states. One was a ballad for the Day of the Dead.
The dancers were delighted this year for the unseasonably warm weather. “Last year we were freezing and had all sorts of layers on,” said Ofelia Guerra, the ballet’s executive director.
Her program has about 300 students. The students performing Sunday had prepared for months. “I love that they do performances for the community like this to promote the culture,” she said.
Bruce Palombo has been a vendor at the market since 1966. The market was located on the original Maxwell Street before it was torn up to build the University of Illinois Chicago.
Palombo, 81, has seen the market change dramatically since it moved, first to Canal Street and then to Des Plaines and Taylor streets, where it remains today.
“When we came here, it used to go from Roosevelt Road to Harrison, and all of the side streets. It was 500-some vendors. Now we have probably 40,” said Palombo, cigar in hand.
Many vendors left last year when the city held the market every other weekend. “We lost a lot of dealers because they went to markets that were open every week. It’s a double-edged sword. You lose vendors, you lose customers. And then you can’t get the vendors back because there’s no customers.”
Palombo grew up with the market and remembers his immigrant parents buying him clothes there. Many of the market patrons were immigrants themselves “because they felt comfortable with that kind of thing, because that’s where they came from,” he said.
Halloween parade Monday
On Monday, the Haunted Halsted Halloween Parade kicks off in Lake View. The parade steps off at 6 p.m. from Belmont Avenue and Halsted Street, heading north to Brompton Avenue. Details about the parade and a costume contest with a $500 first-place prize, can be found at northalsted.com/events/halloween/.
For safety, the city recommends those experience COVID-19 symptoms to stay home, eat candy at home after washing hands, remember that costume masks are not a substitute for high-quality face masks, and that outdoor activities are safer than indoor ones.
