By Jonathan Williams

For the AJC

With its proximity to Halloween, Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebration could easily be mistaken for belated Halloween festivities with its skeletons, candy and other seemingly spooky and childlike imagery.

Though the two share similar traditions and merriment, if you look behind the masks and makeup of Dia de los Muertos you’ll find a holiday whose sacred rites of honoring the dead remain intact after centuries of celebration.

From sugar skulls and shadow boxes to folk art and food, here are a few ways for Atlantans to join in the fall fiesta.

Day of the Dead Show

After last year’s inaugural show at Young Blood Gallery, the 2nd Annual Day of the Dead Show moved to a larger location, opening last weekend at the Eyedrum Gallery. With opening night festivities that included tarot readings, Mexican food and a performance by local band Uncle Daddy and the Kissin’ Cousins, the Day of the Dead Show definitely appeals just as much to Atlanta’s tattooed and rock community as it does to Latin Americans and others from more traditional backgrounds.

With more than 80 coffin-shaped nichos, or shadow boxes, decorated by an assortment of painters, sculptors, musicians, crafters, tattooers and other creative types — including Sam Parker, Trish Chenard, Sanithna Phansavanh, David T. Lindsay and Lael Pastores — the show provides numerous interpretations of the Day of the Dead theme.

“I was lucky enough to spend Day of the Dead in Mexico one year and it blew me away,” said Buffi Aguero of Tweet Design, who is also a member of local bands such as Tiger! Tiger! “There were people dancing in the graveyard, full mariachi bands playing, food and flowers everywhere — it was beautiful. Tracy [Wagner, Tweet partner] and I decided that this underrated holiday was a great way to celebrate our combined love of art and music.

“Last year we did it as a thank-you to our clients at Tweet,” continued Aguero, who, along with Wagner, also contributed work in the show. “We wanted to do an event that combined music and art that was a better representation of who we were than a typical holiday party.”

3 p.m.-8 p.m. Fridays; 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. Through Nov. 29. Free (donations accepted). Eyedrum Gallery, 290 Martin Luther King Dr. S.E. 404-522-0655, www.eyedrum.org .

Dia de Muertos

The Atlanta History Center hosts its annual Day of the Dead celebration on Sunday with a day filled with free festivities for all ages. As Atlanta’s largest Day of the Dead celebration, the history center’s event features altars to honor the dead, festive food offerings, photography, art, music, dancing and other ways to celebrate the living while respecting the dead.

On display through Jan. 3, 2010,” Through the Lens of MundoHispanico: Georgia’s Hispanic Community” offers a bilingual photo-documentary look at Hispanic artists, politicians, business leaders and other community figures in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. Culled from the archives of the MundoHispanico newspaper, this photography exhibit chronicles the past 30 years of Latino contributions to local society and culture.

In the Grand Overlook Ballroom, visitors will see numerous elaborately decorated shrines honoring fallen soldiers, artists, family members, pets or anyone else who is no longer with us. Through the use of candles, flowers, poetry, keepsakes and food offerings, these altars will prompt memories of the deceased for a celebratory look at lives past. Many of the creators of these altars will be on hand to discuss their heritage and the people they are honoring.

The museum’s Kid Corner will provide historical activities for children, such as storytelling, a reading corner, crossword puzzles, coloring activities and other hands-on opportunities. There will also be performances by musical groups, dance troupes and other entertainers, including Los Cenzontles, throughout the day, and vendors will offer food, crafts and other cultural creations.

Noon-5 p.m. Nov. 1. Free. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, N.W. 404-814-4000, www.atlantahistory center.com .

Los Cenzontles

The Rialto Center for the Arts started its Day of the Dead celebration a little early, holding free Mexican art workshops at No Mas! Cantina every Saturday in October leading up to this weekend’s big event. These workshops provided materials for making skeleton figurines, sugar skulls, shadow boxes and other iconic items.

While many will be getting ready for Halloween parties on Saturday, the lobby of the Rialto will be decorated with altars to the dead, folk art, figurines and other traditional imagery for a pre-Day of the Dead fiesta. The daylong festivities will culminate that night with a performance by California’s Los Cenzontles, a band that fuses rural Mexican roots sounds with strong percussion and Latin rhythms, as well as electric rock. The eight-member band, whose name translates to “The Mockingbirds,” has been honoring the Mexican musical traditions from centuries past with contemporary flair for more than two decades and brings its show to town for an ultimate Day of the Dead celebration and performance.

The Rialto’s festivities continue on Nov. 5 when the First Thursdays Downtown ArtsWalk takes place from 5 to 8 p.m., serving as a Day of the Dead closing party of sorts. The decorations will go up again as the Rialto hosts free handcraft workshops, figurine decorating, a folk art exhibition, tastings of traditional Day of the Dead food and other cultural activities.

8 p.m. Oct. 31. $13-$55. Rialto Center for the Arts, 80 Forsyth St. N.W. 404-413-9849, www.rialtocenter.org .