San Diego is a melting pot of various cultures and ethnicities. From celebrating Irish heritage to staging German festivals such as Oktoberfest, San Diego offers a rich and vibrant cultural mix, all in one city.

Keeping with this tradition, San Diego is now gearing up to celebrate its rich Mexican heritage with the festival of Dia de los Muertos on October 31st  2010. Whether you belong to the Mexican community or not, you can attend this family oriented event which is a sort of a celebration of life and death. It is a wonderful tradition which brings together people of different origins to honor their loved ones. However, contrary to what the name suggests it is a festive time.

In San Diego, Dia de los Muertos is organized by the Mission San Luis Rey, a non-profit organization and National Historic Landmark, at the Mission San Luis Rey. The highlight of the festival is the ofrendas. Ofrendas are the altars which are decorated with thousands of orange Mexican marigolds, not larger than 12 square inches. Kids who come up with the best looking mini ofrendas are given interesting gifts.

Apart from this, the festival offers mouth-watering food, dance, music, a symbolic procession, free chalk cemetery decorated with flowers and candles and also an activity area for children.

Dia de los Muertos is an opportunity for musicians, dancers and artists to showcase their talent whereas it is an equally great opportunity for visitors to witness rich Latino culture.  Both Dia de los Muertos and Halloween will be taking place around the same time. Therefore get your kids dressed in their best Halloween costumes of skeletons, spirits for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. This family friendly festival is free and will begin at 10am and continue till 4pm.

If you are on a vacation to San Diego for Halloween, make sure to add this event too in your itinerary. Considering it is a festive time, a large number of hotels in San Diego are offering great San Diego vacation deals and packages to attract tourists.

Located in Clairemont Mesa Blvd, California Suites Hotel is offering awesome discounts to visitors. Known for good ambiance and hospitality, the hotel provides impeccable services to the guests. Some of the amenities include an extended complimentary breakfast, Internet facility, voice mail service, spa tub, safe deposit box and more. Besides, the hotel is centrally located from where Mission San Luis Rey is a short distance away. You can go through the website to know various other facilities available as well as the discounts offered.