Dia de los Muertos: How Day of the Dead Is Celebrated Around the Americas
On the first two days of November each year, it's believed the distance between the living and the dead becomes smaller, the latter temporarily returning to the families and places they left behind. The occasion is met with celebration: Loud, explosive, joyful festivities crop up across communities in Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, and other parts of the Americas, as revelers pass time with the spirits of the deceased. Rooted in pre-hispanic beliefs, Dia de Muertos or Dia de los Muertos—otherwise known as Day of the Dead—is honored in a host of a different ways, from booming, costumed parades to graveside picnics. Scroll down for just a few celebrations taking place around the Americas.
This article was originally published on October 17, 2014; it has been updated with new information.
AlamySan Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico
In the colorful town of San Miguel de Allende, the Festival La Calaca (Skull Festival) is nearly a weeklong affair, running from November 1 - 5. It's also one of the largest celebrations in Mexico, with a mix of traditional rituals, including costumed parades and altar building, plus newer, modern festivities like all-night parties in local bars and hotels. The true spirit of the festival is seen in the Catrina Parade, in the Rancho Los Labradores neighborhood just outside town; over a decade ago, the community noticed that an American version of Halloween was starting to overshadow the traditional Day of the Dead, and the parade was created to re-involve locals and foreigners alike in the long-celebrated holiday—without sacrificing tradition. Throughout the week, the winding colonial streets are blanketed with marigold petals and paper flags, and visitors are often welcomed into homes to appreciate their intricate, handmade altars.
GettyMerida, Mexico
Known as the cultural heart of the Yucatán Peninsula, the city of Merida celebrates the three-day Mayan holiday Hanal Pixan (meaning “food of souls”). The deceased are believed to visit their living relatives from October 31 to November 2, so families prepare their home as they would for any visitor—they cook, they clean, they decorate. Elaborate altars and gravestone decorations are constructed, and a special chicken tamale, pibipollo, is cooked with care to be shared with the dead. Many of the most important moments of Hanal Pixan take place in homes and churches, but sizable public parades—a sea of black-and-white painted faces—fill the main streets each night.
GettySantiago Sacatepequez, Guatemala
In the small town of Santiago Sacatepequez, just an hour from both Guatemala City and the popular colonial town of Antigua, the dead are honored with traditional kite-flying ceremonies. We're talking colossal, hand-decorated canvases as big as 120 feet across, stretched onto bamboo frames and made entirely of natural materials (even the glue holding it together is made of a combination of fruits, flowers, and water). For the forty days leading up to November 1, community members work together to construct these masterpieces, before finally setting them up in the Sacatepequez local cemetery on the Day of the Dead. It’s believed that the kites breaking through the wind keeps away bad spirits, so locals spend the day flying—and showing off—their own smaller designs as well.
GettyOaxaca, Mexico
Oaxacan culture is grounded by its indigenous roots, evident in everything from the local cuisine and textiles, to the fact that it’s home to more speakers of indigenous languages than any other state in Mexico—and, of course, it’s unrivaled Day of the Dead celebrations. The city center explodes with color from October 31 to November 2: Elaborate tapestries made with sand, seeds, and petals are assembled in public outdoor spaces; local markets such as the bustling Friday-only Mercado de Ocotlan burst at the seams with sugar skulls, paper flags, and marigolds; and booming, carnival-like parades called comparsas bound through the city and skirting towns like Etla, with revelers dressed in their wildest Catrina-esque attire. Of course, quieter rituals pulse on as well, with many locals heading to candlelit halls of the Pantheon San Miguel, or holding graveside celebrations in the Xoxocotlan cemetery.
GettyLa Paz, Bolivia
Andean traditions hold strong in urban La Paz, where local Aymara and Quechua populations breathe life into the city’s Day of the Dead rituals (no pun intended). Toward the end of October, downtown markets—such as the well-known Mercado de las Brujas (Witches’ Market)—overflow with the essential trimmings for the event: brightly-colored taper candles, strands of paper flowers, and sweet tantawawa bread, baked in the shape of a bundled baby. Families of the deceased visit local cemeteries with these offerings on November 2, where they’ll spend the day feting next to the crypts of those they’ve lost. On November 8, the celebrations continue with the Fiesta de las Ñatitas (Festival of Skulls), when thousands of people bring the decorated skulls of loved ones (diamond-adorned teeth, sunglasses, and cigarettes-between-the-teeth included) to the downtown Cementerio General.
GettyJanitzio, Mexico
Home to the Purepecha people, this island in the middle of Lake Patzcuaro celebrates its own pre-Hispanic incarnation of the holiday. Starting on October 31, locals decorate gravestones, prepare food offerings, and even compete in a contest for the best altar leading up to Animecha Kejtziatakua (the Night of the Dead). Once the sun sets on November 1, fishing boats illuminated by candles glide across the lake, their captains raising fishing nets in and out of the water to awaken lost souls and guide them toward the town’s cemetery. Church bells toll calling souls to their decorated graves, while women and children mourn in a haze of copal incense smoke and chanting until dawn (the men stand guard outside the cemetery before escorting their families home at daybreak).
GettySan Juan Chamula, Mexico
In the Chiapan highlands near the border of Mexico and Guatemala, the Tzotzil Mayan village of San Juan Chamula has only been lightly influenced by the Catholic Church, meaning Day of the Dead here is largely rooted in pre-Hispanic rituals, which take on a more stoic form of remembrance for the dead than in other parts of Mexico. On November 1 and 2, locals head to the central Cementerio de San Juan Chamula, which has the crumbling framework of a Catholic church as its backdrop, with fresh produce and flowers as offerings. Time is spent decorating the tombstones of lost family members, laying out food and drink they enjoyed during their time on earth, and staying beside them and talking or singing through the night.
GettyLima, Peru
As Andean communities have moved into the bustling capital city of Peru, many have brought their Day of the Dead tradition with them. The Nueva Esperanza cemetery was built in 1961 to accommodate these growing communities, effectively establishing it as the center of Day of the Dead festivities in the coastal city—and leading it to become the second biggest cemetery in the world. Every November 2, families of those buried there travel from across the city—and country—to spend the day toasting their loved ones. Around each gravestone is a party, complete with beer, the deceased’s favorite meal, and a boom box playing the music they loved. At night, when the beer vendors have left for the day, those who have traveled from out of town lay down their blankets and sleep next to their family's tombstones.
GettyMexico, City, Mexico
Sure, the Bond movie Spectre made it seem like Mexico City goes all out for Day of the Dead, but the epic parade shown in the film didn’t exist prior to the 2015 release (though it has inspired an annual event that’s taken place every year since). Truer traditions, however, can be found 30 miles away in Xochimilco. The canals of this UNESCO heritage site, known for its colorful boats for hire, get an ethereal Day of the Dead treatment. At midnight on November 2, the boats—adorned with flowers and lights for the holiday—make their way for the nearby San Gregorio Atlapulco cemetery, where candlelit graveside vigils last through the night.
GettySan Francisco, California
Before San Francisco’s Mission District was a hipster hub, it was the beating heart of the city’s Latin community—and every November 2, the community fills the streets once again. After sunset, major avenues are blocked off and costumed revelers weave their way through the neighborhood. DIY ofrendas (altars decorated with candles, flowers, and photos of lost ones) line the porches along the route, leading to the final destination of Garfield Park, which is filled with communal memorials and altars for the evening. Several indigenous organizations provide musical accompaniment for the procession, and others dance alongside the parade, representing a whole mix of the different Day of the Dead celebrations found throughout the Americas.
