Dia de Los Muertos altars popping up in the streets of downtown Selma

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Right in the heart of Selma this week you will find skulls and skeletons, but it has nothing to do with Halloween.

A group of residents want people in their community to know about Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

"A tradition Mexican holiday that is more like a Memorial Day. We honor our past loved ones and we remember them through memorabilia and photos," said Vicki Filgas, Selma.

Filgas loves art and sees this as an opportunity to educated and enlighten others. She teamed up with Arte Americas and the Irvine Foundation for a grant.

"And what we've done is we matched businesses with altar makers and we're hoping to get the public out to walk the altar trial and to participate."

Through the fifth of November, anyone can pick up a passport and visit 14 altars in Selma. People can turn in their passport to win a $500 raffle prize.

Each altar pays tribute to someone who has died. Yvette Montijo is honoring her late grandfather.

"He had the most incredible rose garden. That's why we have some roses back here. A beautiful rose garden and his vegetable and fruit garden was unrivaled."

On every altar you will find items such as food, clothing, pictures, anything that person loved. Items that bring their souls back to life for their loved ones.

Margie Salgado had students create an altar outside of her dance studio.

"We don't want our kids, our young kids, to forget about their roots, their culture. It's beautiful. Our culture is full, it's so rich. We don't want them to forget. And this is a big part of it."