Dia de los Muertos in Mexico: When and How it is Celebrated

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is one of the most important celebrations in Mexico, a beautiful, rich, and multifaceted celebration that captures the attention of the world.

Starting from the last two weeks of October, Mexicans honor their deceased loved ones with a joyful and positive celebration, a fantastic folk festival where the city streets are filled with marigold flowers, everything smells like zempaxochitl (flower of the dead), chocolate, sugar figurines, and "bread of the dead." Markets prepare a great feast, and shops are full of painted sugar skeletons called "catrinas."

El Día de Muertos has its origins more than 500 years ago, in the union of pre-Hispanic cultural traditions with Catholic culture to honor the memory of the deceased and symbolize the meeting point between the living and the dead.

This great Mexican festival, now also spread to other Latin American countries like Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Guatemala, leads to colorful and joyous public celebrations, but also moments of intimate meditation: in every home, an altar is set up decorated with offerings and a path of marigold petals representing the journey that souls must take to reach the altar.

In 2003, UNESCO declared El Dia de los Muertos one of the oldest and most powerful cultural expressions among Mexican indigenous groups, declaring the celebration a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Preparations begin throughout Mexico many weeks in advance, but the main dates for celebrating El Dia de Muertos are November 1st and 2nd November.

There are also other important days: October 28, 29, 30, and 31.

According to tradition, it is believed that on October 28, tragically deceased souls visit the offerings, while on October 30 and 31, the souls of children who died unbaptized come.

In Mexico, there are many places decorated with flowers, skulls, and other offerings that form the famous altars visible everywhere: in museums, the entrances of public buildings, and even in shops and shopping centers.

Depending on the region, you can find various rituals related to this celebration. In general, it is striking how a celebration in honor of the deceased is not as sad or painful as one might initially expect. It is rather a different way of understanding the departure of a loved one.

However, the most common thing for tourists who decide to immerse themselves in this tradition is to visit the cities closely related to this celebration.

In Chignahuapan, in the state of Puebla, the so-called Festival de la Luz y la Vida (Festival of Light and Life) is organized.

This festival includes a show with torches, actors, and fireworks, aiming to represent the trials that souls undergo when they die in an attempt to reach eternal peace in Mictlán.

Access to cemeteries is another common plan on the Day of the Dead.

In the San Andrés Mixquic cemetery, located on the outskirts of Mexico City, it is common to find groups of people sitting on the graves on the Day of the Dead, spending the night dining among the tombstones. Something similar happens at the island of Janitzio, in the state of Michoacán.

In Pomuch, in the Campeche area, every year the bones of the deceased are exhumed to be cleaned and returned to their graves.

Undoubtedly, one of the most surprising events is the Great Day of the Dead Parade organized in Mexico City: huge balloons, floats with allegorical decorations of the underworld, giant skeletons, and lots of color flood the streets of Mexico City for a few hours to celebrate one of the most important holidays in the country.

Although each Mexican region has its own traditions, they all share common traits. One of the most important is the positioning of the altars.

Everywhere you can find marigold petals (cempoalxúchitl), candles, and foods like the corn-based bread of the dead and other vegetables, very typical during pre-Hispanic festivities.

On the altars, copal, an aromatic resin whose smoke is considered food for celestial deities, is also scattered.

In addition, you will find handcrafted items and the favorite treats of the deceased. Among these are fruit, seven dishes with seven piles of tortillas, pieces of cooked chicken or turkey, tamales, hot coffee, and chocolate.

A censer known as tecolcaxit, holy water, the image of the most important saint, and the image of the deceased are also placed.

Another common feature is the decoration of tombs and cemeteries, which are filled with flowers and candles to honor the deceased. It is customary for families to place offerings along the path from their home to the cemetery.

According to tradition, the soul of the dead returns to visit the family on El Día de Muertos. For this reason, Mexicans await its visit with everything that the deceased loved. They build an altar full of flowers and leave cigarettes, chocolate, candies, and even tequila on top.

At the end of this day, these foods lose their flavor because the soul of the dead has come and taken away their essence.

This celebration varies in each region, but normally the altar has seven levels, which represent the seven steps that the soul of the deceased must cross to find rest. The structure of the altar is made with cardboard boxes or wood.

The seventh level is on the ground, the sixth, a little smaller, is placed above, the fifth is placed above the sixth, and so on until it reaches the first.

The place where the altar is set must be swept with aromatic herbs one day before the Day of the Dead. Relatives stay awake all night waiting for the spirit of their deceased to come down and enjoy their offerings for 21 days.

The tradition of El Día de Muertos has pre-Hispanic origins, when homage was paid to death with a celebration that took place in the last week of October and until the early days of November.

Death was seen as the beginning of the journey to Mictlán (land of the dead), where the soul of the deceased had to overcome various obstacles to reach Mictlantecuhtli (lord of the dead) and Mictecacíhuatl (lady of the dead). Upon reaching the gods of Mictlán, an offering had to be made to obtain eternal rest.

Hence the need to bury people not only with personal items that would accompany them in life but also with offerings and elements that could help them on the long journey through the underworld.

Today, one of the characters that have become indispensable in the Mexican tradition to celebrate the Day of the Dead is Catrina, considered a popular symbol of death.