Day of the Dead in Mexico: What’s it all about?

In Mexico, a country full of color, flavor and tradition, the Day of the Dead stands out as especially colorful, flavorful and traditional.

Rooted in Pre-Hispanic beliefs and caught up in the trick-or-treat influence of Halloween, the Day of the Dead is a chance to honor deceased relatives with an altar in the home, dress up as an elegant skeleton, and sample the best of Mexico’s artesanal candy.

The Day of the Dead (el Dia de los Muertos) takes place on November 2, but it’s celebrated several days or even weeks before, especially when it happens midweek, making a long weekend. While it’s one of the most public holidays in Mexico, in many ways the Day of the Dead is also the most personal.

Besides costumes and outdoor events (more on those below), perhaps the most interesting part of the Day of the Dead is that people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried.

They clean it up, decorate it with flowers, and even may spend the night there, eating, drinking, playing music, and remembering their loved ones.

“We don’t cry. It’s a celebration,” says my friend Pedro, a guitarist and music teacher. His family decorates their relatives’ graves with candles, photographs, and orange flowers. They sing songs, tell stories, and tell their dead relatives about everything new in their lives.

The Ofrenda (Altar)

Another more personal manifestation of the Day of the Dead is the altar that families set up in their homes. Called an ofrenda, in it they place photographs of deceased relatives and some of their favorite foods, including cigarettes and alcohol if the person liked them. It’s as if the relative will come back for a visit, and the family wants them to feel welcome again.

Not only families do this, but businesses and other places all over Mexico. Here’s an ofrenda from the university where I work:

Another ofrenda for the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos):

Day of the Dead Parade

Spectre, the James Bond movie from 2015, presents a highly stylized view of the Day of the Dead. In the first scenes of the movie, there’s a big parade with lots of noise and action, with people running around in colorful dresses, skull makeup, and Day of the Dead costumes.

Apparently the Mexican government spent a huge amount of money to get the scene included in the movie, and the Day of the Dead skull character was featured on the original movie poster.

In an example of life following art (or art following art?), there are now Day of the Dead parades, called Paseo de las Animas, going down the same city streets in Mexico City, usually the weekend before the holiday.

Along with floats of skulls and big colorful monsters called alebrijes, they include thousands of actors in Day of the Dead costumes and makeup. (A skeleton, called catrina for women and catrin for men, is the iconic Day of the Dead costume: a flowing gown or old-style suit.)

Small towns have these solemn processions as well:

Feria del Alfeñique in Toluca

The Mexico City Day of the Dead parade might be relatively new, but displays, events, and markets selling Day of the Dead specialities have been happening for years all over the country in the days leading up to the holiday.

The Feria del Alfeñique in Toluca, the central Mexican city where I live, is a great place to sample all the flavors and soak up the atmosphere. (Alfeñique is a type of sugar candy.)

In the Portales, an outdoor mall of arches in the center of town, hundreds of vendors sell all kinds of candies, decorations, and Day of the Dead skulls, either to try right there or to put in your family altar.

No altar would be complete without calaveritas, the colorful candy Day of the Dead skulls. They represent the dead relative, whose name you can have drawn on the forehead in sugar.

You can get candied everything, including all kinds of vegetables and fruit, like limes, pumpkin, and nopales (cactus leaves). Here are some tempting bananas:

I especially enjoy the oficios, little skeletons doing their various jobs. I’ve given many as gifts to people who have the same (or an ironically similar) job.

The Day of the Dead skull figure is a butcher:

If you want to experience the Day of the Dead but without a late night in a cemetery or the enormous crowds of a parade, come to Toluca for the Feria del Alfeñique. It’s an easy bus ride from the Observatorio metro stop/bus station in the west of Mexico City. Once you get to the Toluca bus station, take a “safe taxi” (taxi seguro) to centro, downtown.

A big catrina in downtown Toluca during the Day of the Dead:

Because the Day of the Dead comes right after Halloween, and because of similar themes, the two holidays have become somewhat mixed up in Mexico.

Parents dress their children in scary costumes to bring them downtown to trick-or-treat, visiting businesses and asking passersby for candy, instead of walking around their neighborhood. This doesn’t only happen on October 31, but a few days before and after.

It’s also common for people in elaborate costumes to accept money to pose with you for photographs.

Day of the Dead in Patzcuaro, Michoacan

The most famous destination in Mexico for the Day of the Dead is probably Patzcuaro, a small town in Michoacan. I haven’t been there, for two reasons: The Day of the Dead in Toluca, where I used to live, was interesting enough for me, and Patzcuaro is so famous as a Day of the Dead destination that hotels usually sell out.

If you want to experience the Day of the Dead in Patzcuaro, you can take a look at this tour from Morelia.

Day of the Dead Tours

Besides the Day of the Dead tour in Patzcuaro, there are other tours you can take in Mexico to experience Dia de los Muertos. These are a good idea if you don’t feel like wandering around a small-town Mexican cemetery in the middle of the night.

This tour from Mexico City takes you to experience the Day of the Dead in the town of Mixquic.

If you’re in San Miguel de Allende, you can learn about the holiday and visit a local cemetery in this Day of the Dead tour.

Oaxaca is also a popular Day of the Dead destination. On November 1 you can take this tour in Etla (near Oaxaca City) and on November 2 you can join this Day of the Dead tour in Huatulco.

Thanks for reading my post about Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead, in Mexico.