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By the age of four, Adelita Camacho had established a strong personality — she liked shiny things because she enjoyed being noticed. She wanted sparkly beads on her clothes, rarely went out of the house without wearring earrings and a ring, and always had lip gloss in her pocket.

When she saw a camera, she struck a pose. She told her dad she wanted to be a princess. Or a rock star.

On Saturday , Adelita will be in the limelight among more than just her family members. The little girl, who suddenly died in an accident earlier this year, will be the patroness of a children’s procession to remember and celebrate loved ones who have died. The event is part of this weekend’s “All Souls” activities — an occasion that draws on the Mexican Day of the Dead — Día de los Muertos — typically recognized in the two days following Halloween.

Day of the Dead-related activities in Tucson have become increasingly popular. The local All Souls Procession of ghouls, ghosts and skeletons began 18 years ago with 75 people. Last year, more than 10,000 crowded Downtown for the event.

Procession organizers, participants and others familiar with Day of the Dead activities say the reason is not only Tucson’s proximity to Mexico, where Day of the Dead. They say people of all faiths and cultures are drawn to the holiday because there are not many outlets in mainstream culture or religion that allow for such a public, unifying and often playful perspective on death.

Blending elements of an indigenous Aztec celebration with the Christian commemoration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, Day of the Dead is built around the belief that the spirits of the dead return home to their loved ones. The spirits of children come first, followed by the adults. Festivities include candlelight vigils in cemeteries, altars set up to welcome departed spirits home and skeletons, skulls, wreaths and crosses.

“To me it’s more of a happy time. We’re all having a really, really hard time accepting Adelita’s death,” said Adelita’s grandmother, Rosa Camacho-Bedoy. “But I know in heaven she’s having a party. This is going to be the most wonderful thing for her and we will all celebrate this beautiful child.”

To people outside of the Mexican culture, the festive skeletons and skulls can be jarring and appear morbid. But once they understand the meaning, people are typically intrigued, said Eddie Gallego, owner of the Downtown Tolteca Tlacuilo, and a native Tucsonan whose family has lived in the area since the 19th century.

“In Christianity you bury people who have died and it can feel like there’s no resolve,” Gallego said. “Especially kids, they grow up afraid of death. But in pre-Columbian days it was different. A person will always come back if you always remember.”

Gallego, who has Aztec and Spanish ancestry, has a permanent offrenda — altar — in his store and says he’s increasingly asked by people from outside the Southwest to help them create altars in their communities.

“I think in America at least we tend to pretend almost like death doesn’t exist,” aid Gen Kelsang Lingpur , a Buddhist nun at the Tara Mahayana Buddhist Center in Midtown. “In that sense Day of the Dead is a healthy acceptance of what is going to happen to all of us.”

Many Buddhists keep shrines in their homes, and often they will include a skeleton, Lingpur said. “We want to remember this is impermanent and we have a precious opportunity to do something with this life. We meditate on death and try to keep aware of it.”

Lingpur said her Buddhist community has talked about doing a Day of the Dead event next year as a way of acknowledging the Buddhist teaching that death is a normal occurrence. Buddhists believe that when someone dies they are rebirthed in a different existence. Rather than funerals, they hold ceremonies for a transference of consciousness.

But the Buddhist ceremony is not as festive and celebratory as Day of the Dead, Lingpur noted.