A Day of the Dead celebration Saturday at Dallas' Latino Cultural Center drew a crowd of about 400 seeking to reconnect with their culture, as well as lost loved ones.

"We are trying to help people keep their roots and culture," said Irasema Romero, spokeswoman for the center.

Along with musical entertainment and a play by Teatro Flor Candela, the event featured 10 altars created by community artists.

"The altars show a commemoration to something or someone," Ms. Romero said. "And this not only helps us remember what our ancestors did in Mexico, but it also helps younger generations become involved."

Claudia Godinez of Dallas said she attends a Día de Los Muertos celebration each year. She's particularly fond of the altars, which she says remind her of South Texas, where she grew up.

"It's just a connection back to who I am," she said, gazing at an altar dedicated to mothers and grandmothers. "It's always wonderful to see the commemorations to the abuelas [grandmothers] and the children, but especially the abuelas because those are the people that connect back to decades past."

Traditionally, Mexico's Day of the Dead mixes Roman Catholicism and indigenous beliefs with events tied to All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. The celebrations feature altars with offerings to the departed.

Ivonne Acero didn't honor anyone she knows with her Stairway to Heaven altar, but it still holds special significance, commemorating victims of domestic violence.

"I grew up in a home where there was domestic violence," Ms. Acero said, "and when I learned that 120 women in Texas died of domestic violence [in 2006], that was the bottom line for me."

The altar featured a staircase with a young girl draped in white at the top. Along the front lay flower petals, dolls and a white cross with names of the victims.

"As an artist, it is my way of making the world a little better," Ms. Acero said.