The Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a national holiday in Mexico, a tradition that’s so deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of the country that it’s almost a cultural imperative. The actual holiday–the day the banks and government offices are all closed–is November the 2nd, which correlates to a broad assortment of similar celebrations, both secular and religious, in numerous other countries and among numerous other cultures throughout the world.

The remarkable celebration that this holiday has become began centuries ago, as a tradition in central and southern Mexico. Originally, it was a springtime festival dedicated to an Aztec goddess. That native festival was subverted by the church–a fairly common practice–and the timing of the celebration was moved to the fall of the year, to coincide with an appropriate date on the Catholic calendar.

The original Aztec traditions never held sway in northern Mexico, so in that region, the Catholic observance was never more than just that, a call to prayer that was private, and subdued, not at all a public spectacle. All of that changed after the Mexican government created the national holiday. Today, the Dia de Los Muertos, which the United Nations declared to be “An intangible World Heritage,” is celebrated throughout Mexico, as well as in many other parts of the world–anywhere that is home to any significant number of Mexican immigrants. But there are a few spots that are justifiably famous for having the best, the gaudiest, and the most enthusiastic celebrations of all. Opinions vary, but everyone’s list includes the city of Oaxaca, in the state of Oaxaca. The town of Patzcuaro, in Michoacan, is another that everyone agrees is special, and then there’s Mérida, in the Yucatan, where they get behind the celebration in a very major way. Ah, and then there is San Miguel de Allende, that colonial gem of a city in the hills of Guanajuato, five hours north of Mexico City. 

Traditional Ofrenda, Graveside Offerings 

The run-up to the Day of the Dead starts on October 31st. In the U.S. we celebrate that date as Halloween, the day when our kids dress up as ghosts and goblins, super heroes and Disney princesses, and then wander around our neighborhoods extorting candy from our neighbors. (Okay, so it’s not REALLY extortion, but the whole notion of “Trick or Treat” implies a threat. “Give me candy, or I’ll soap your windows!” Even though nobody really does that anymore.) October 31st is also the date of another Catholic holiday, this one known as All Saint’s Eve, or All Hallow’s Eve. Officially, we’re referring to the night before All Saints Day, which is celebrated on November 1st, and is, for the Catholics, a day for the veneration of all saints and martyrs. In Mexico, these three days are generally considered together as one big happy holiday, with discrete parts that happen in a particular sequence. Personally, I’ve experienced this fascinating celebration just once, in San Miguel de Allende, in 2015. I can’t say with any certainty that the structure and flow of the festivities is exactly the same in other parts of Mexico, but here’s how it works in San Miguel:

Day 1: October 31st: All Saints Eve, or All Hallows Eve, aka, Halloween: From what I witnessed, it’s a whole lot like the American version of Halloween, only it’s a bit more lively, and definitely more communal. This is the day–or perhaps I should say the evening–when whole families dress up and come to El Jardin, the Central Plaza, and make a few circuits around the square.   (note:  click any of these photos for an expanded view):

The costumes ran the gamut. A lot of the same get-ups you’d see in the U.S., along with many others that were clearly home-made, such as miniature versions of traditional costumes, papier-mâché masks, and fancy princess gowns. Many of the participants had painted faces, all white, with eyes and mouth outlined in black, to make them look like walking dead. Face painting is a huge part of the Dia de Los Muertos tradition, though it’s less prominent on this, the children’s special night. The whole scene in the plaza may not have been entirely authentic, but who cares? Everyone involved was having a great time, and it was a whale of a lot of fun to watch.

FACE PAINTING

Everyone in town (okay, almost everyone), gets their face painted with a ghostly white makeup. Eyes, nose, and mouth are outlined in black, with other embellishments added, creating personalized variations on a general theme.  The goal is to make one’s face look like a calavera, a human skull, but, trust me, you’ll never see a skull in nature that looks anything like these!

The origins of the tradition are a little murky, but it’s widely believed that it started with the sugar skulls used to decorate the ofrendas, the altars set up to honor deceased loved ones through the course of the holiday. The little skulls, made of molded sugar, are painted and decorated, presumably to make them less frightening for the children. At some point, people started painting their own faces to resemble those of the sugar skulls. It became a friendly competition, people trying to out-skull one another, and it caught on, spreading to all parts of Mexico, and becoming perhaps the most widely recognized aspect of this beloved national holiday.

As the evening progresses, the crowds in the plaza pack the space like a sold-out rock concert

Many of the ofrendas are private, but some are public, and quite elaborate, such as these in the Jardin, the city’s main plaza

Considerable artistry goes into the making of the decorations. There are simple sugar skulls, along with entire sugar skeletons, and groups of skeletons arranged in tableaus. There are skeleton-themed mosaics made from multi-colored beans and seeds, all of it surrounded by intricate floral arrangements, extra heavy on the marigolds.

Like any other holiday, or like anything else that people enjoy, there’s merchandising that goes along with the Day of the Dead, and some of it is pretty wonderful, the craftsmanship superb. Since this is Mexico, we’re not talking about cheap plastic junk mass produced in China:

San Miguel de Allende is one of my favorite cities in Mexico, and it’s the perfect place to enjoy the festivities surrounding the Dia de Los Muertos, Mexico’s most celebrated holiday. If you’d like to go and see it for yourself, I recommend that you plan ahead, because the hotels in town tend to fill up well in advance.

Note: several of the photos in this post were taken by Michael Fritz, and are used here with his permission.

The slide show below has additional photos from the celebration. Click any of them to expand the images to full screen. 

(Unless otherwise noted, all of the images in these posts are my original work, and are protected by copyright. They may not be duplicated for commercial purposes.)

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ON THE ROAD IN MEXICO

Mexican Road Trip: Three Days of the Dead in San Miguel de Allende

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IN THE LAND OF THE MAYA

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