Guide to Día de Muertos in Mexico

Mexico is famous for its unique treatment of death – and, by extension, of life.

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is an ancient, complex and deeply heartfelt celebration. During this holiday, people throughout Mexico remember and pay homage to loved ones who have passed.

Often misunderstood and oversimplified, Día de Muertos is, at its core, a reminder that life – whether that of a deceased loved one or of your own – is fleeting and should be celebrated. It combines mourning and remembrance with joy. It’s a quintessential Mexican celebration – filled with family, food, and music – where all are welcome, and none are forgotten.

The Day of the Dead dates back more than a thousand years to the indigenous peoples of central Mexico, the Toltecs and Aztecs, who believed the spirits of the dead return to their communities once a year. When Spanish colonizers arrived, the celebration evolved to include Catholic traditions and rituals.

Today, Día de Muertos is seen as such a unique celebration of death and a core part of the Mexican experience that it was recognized by UNESCO for its cultural significance. Each region of Mexico celebrates Día de Muertos in slightly different ways, though common themes run throughout the country.

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Here is what you need to know.

When is Día de Muertos?

While preparations and some regional celebrations begin in mid to late October, Día de Muertos takes place on two specific days: November 1 and 2.

The first day focuses on children who have died and is called Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocent Ones – not to be confused with Mexico’s version of April Fool’s Day, which is also called Día de los Inocentes, on December 28) or Día de los Angelitos (Day of the Little Angels).

The second day is centered around adults and is called either Día de los Muertos or Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Departed). Originally celebrated in August during pre-Columbian times, it transformed to coincide with the respective Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, which are two days dedicated to prayer and remembering the departed.

What is an ofrenda?

Beginning in mid-October, many Mexicans set up ofrendas (altars) in their homes and businesses to honor loved ones who have passed. Ofrendas can be simple displays or elaborate multi-level structures, but all share the same elements: photos of the deceased, food and drinks they enjoyed in life and small items they loved (like a toy, a bottle of nail polish, or a book).

Commonly displayed items include candles, flowers, crucifixes and colorful images of saints. For many, the ofrenda represents a family’s remembrance of someone they loved ones; for others, it represents a homecoming, a place where their family’s spirits return during this time of year.

Families gather at the cemetery

Regardless of regional variations, Día de Muertos is a time when Mexicans visit cemeteries to clean their loved ones' graves and decorate them with flowers and candles.

The energy often balances being festive and respectful, with families bringing folding chairs and blankets to settle in for a day and even a night of food, drinks and storytelling. Live music is common, and musicians will wind their way through the cemeteries, stopping at gravesite after gravesite to play the favorite tunes of the deceased.

What is the significance of the marigold?

Although all sorts of flowers are used during Día de Muertos, the bright orange cempasúchil (marigold) is considered the official flower of the dead in Mexico.

Native to the central part of the country, it has been used in celebrations since ancient times, as people believed its vivid hue and musky fragrance helped lead spirits back to their homes.

Today, marigolds remain popular for ofrendas and gravesites, especially in the central and southern parts of Mexico, where cemeteries transform into seas of orange, and marigold petals are strewn before altars in a nod to ancient beliefs.

What to eat on Dia de Muertos

Food is an integral part of Día de Muertos. Ofrendas will feature the favorite foods of the deceased, representing not just their preferences but also different regional cuisines like mole negro (a slow-cooked sauce made with hoja santa chili, chocolate, onions and garlic, often served with chicken) in Oaxaca; pozole (traditional Mexican stew with meat shredded cabbage, chili peppers, onion, garlic, radishes, avocado, salsa and lime) in Mexico City; and calabaza en tacha (candied pumpkin cooked in sugar cane syrup) in the Yucatán.

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One food that's almost universally present, however, is pan de muerto ("bread of the dead"). This spongy, egg-based bread sprinkled with sugar comes in a round loaf with bone-shaped decorations – a representation of the cycle of life and death. Bakeries start selling pan de muerto a week or two before Día de Muertos, both for use on ofrendas and as a sweet treat to enjoy with coffee, hot cocoa or atole (a sweet, corn-based hot drink).

Learn about La Catrina

Skeleton imagery has become increasingly common in Día de Muertos celebrations, largely due to the popularity of La Catrina, a high-society skeleton sporting a feather boa and an oversized Victorian-era hat.

Created in the early 1900s by the satirical cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada, La Catrina embodies the reality that death spares no one, rich or poor. The image was later adopted into the national psyche through the art of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, among others.

Today, celebrations around Mexico highlight this most famous skeleton through paper-mache décor, candy skulls for ofrendas and skeleton imagery in signage and papel picado (colorful, perforated banners) that flutter across streets.

On parade or procession days, many people paint their faces to appear as skulls and dress in colorful regional costumes or Victorian-era finery. Face painters often line the streets, ready to transform faces into skulls for passersby.

Where to celebrate Día de Muertos

Traditionally, Día de Muertos is a family-oriented celebration, but larger-scale festivities, ranging from cemetery processions and city-wide parades to street fairs with food vendors and neon-lit rides, are taking hold all over the country. 

Attend the parade in Mexico City

A recent addition to the capital’s cultural events calendar, The Day of the Dead Parade is spectacular year after year. True, it was the James Bond film's depiction of a parade in Mexico City that inspired the real one to come to life, but if you find yourself in CDMX in early November, you won’t be sorry to follow in the locals’ footsteps.

Dazzling floats, dancing Catrinas and enormous puppets resembling Frida Kahlo and other famous figures from Mexico’s historical and cultural past will march by wide-eyed spectators along Avenida Reforma.

This is an event that definitely draws in the crowd, so make sure you arrive a couple of hours before the parade is set to start to grab a spot at the front and actually see the parade go by – as opposed to endless rows of people standing in front of you.

Also in Mexico City, the Desfile de Alebrijes (Parade of Spirit Guides) kicks off in the Zócalo and winds through the capital’s streets. You can expect fantastical creatures, elaborate floats and a crowd of thousands decked out in skeleton costumes.

Make it happen: The main parade will take place on November 2nd from 4-8pm. It will start at the Estela de Luz monument and end at the Zócalo square (where a formidable Day of the Dead altar will be set up from October 25 to November 17).

If you find yourself in the area on October 26, you can also attend the Catrina parade to see hundreds of people – performers and revelers alike – dressed up as graceful skeletons in opulent costumes.

Mixquic Cemetery

Mixquic, a neighborhood in the outskirts of Mexico City that’s been named a Barrio Mágico by the Secretary of Tourism, offers visitors the opportunity to get a glimpse of the traditions surrounding the Day of the Dead while staying close to town.

The highlight of your visit will be going to the cemetery late at night to see elaborately adorned tombstones covered in orange cempasuchitl petals – Mexican marigolds – flower arrangements and candles. Families go to great lengths in decorating their deceased loved ones' tombs, and some are true works of art.

While you wait for the main event, you can wander the streets of the barrio itself, which is also dressed for the occasion with striking graffiti along its walls. During this time, people open their homes for visitors to admire the ofrendas they set up to guide the spirits of their departed family members back home for the night, so follow the crowds and see where the night takes you.

People come from near and far for La Alumbrada, three nights when the town goes dark except for the cemetery, where thousands of candles light up the intricately adorned gravesites.

Make it happen: Visiting Mixquic will take about half your day, and the best way to get there is by renting a car. Buy yourself a local SIM card, download the Waze app – everyone in Mexico relies on Waze for directions and to avoid traffic – and head south to Mixquic with some friends.

Start your journey in the afternoon to ensure you find parking once there. There’s no accommodation in the barrio, so you’ll have to drive back to CDMX late at night after your visit to the cemetery. Keep in mind that the drive will take around 2 hours.

Michoacán

Experiencing Día de Muertos in Michoacán is on everyone’s bucket list. One of the main celebrations takes place on the Island of Janitzio, on the shores of Lago de Pátzcuaro. The view of the town at night is spectacular, lit up with candles and covered in cempasuchil flowers. Visitors can either stay in Janitzio for the night or return to the mainland after visiting the town and the cemetery, as there are boats going to and fro all night.

Make it happen: Finding accommodation in the state’s Pueblos Mágicos is not always easy. If you didn’t book a room well in advance, you can still experience one of the most striking Day of the Dead celebrations in the country by going on a long day trip from Mexico City.

Aztec Explorers organize a tour that will allow you to visit the towns of Pátzcuaro, Tzintzuntzán and the Island of Janitzio all in one day before returning to Mexico City. The distance covered is not insignificant, but they take care of all the details, so you’ll be comfortable and well looked after.

Oaxaca

Oaxaca is indisputably one of the main places in the country to experience Day of the Dead. With one of the country's highest indigenous populations, Oaxaca itself is quite traditional and Día de Muertos celebrations extend over the course of a few days.

Visitors can see decorated altars and lit up niches at the Panteón General on the nights of November 1st and 2nd, or visit the cemeteries in the villages surrounding the city, such as Xoxocotlán. During the day, you can browse through colorful markets that sell Day of the Dead handicrafts, like the Mercado 20 de Noviembre, and watch as families buy the treats that they’ll set up for their dearly departed at the family ofrendas.

Make sure you try some pan de muerto (a pastry with sugary bone-shaped decorations on top that's only made at this time of year throughout the country) or some local pan de yema, "yolk bread," dunked in traditional Oaxacan hot chocolate.

Make it happen: You can get to Oaxaca from Mexico City either by flying or driving, but keep in mind that the drive will take about 6 hours (a bit longer if you take the bus) and part of it will be through winding mountain roads.

Given that this is a very popular time to visit Oaxaca, make sure you book your accommodation well in advance. La Betulia Bed & Breakfast is a charming bed and breakfast with a central courtyard in a quiet part of town and it serves delicious cooked-to-order breakfasts.

La Huasteca Potosina

Oaxaca and Michoacán are perhaps the most widely-known places to celebrate Day of the Dead, but the traditions in La Huasteca Potosina are unlike any others in the country. Away from the gaze of tourists, the celebrations here have more of a regional feel to them.

While the tradition of setting up an ofrenda at the cemetery definitely exists, the way towns commemorate their dead goes much further. Dubbed Xantolo, this local Day of the Dead celebration is a dynamic and traditional affair where people take to the streets in costume to perform dances in groups called comparsas – in a manner not unlike a carnival.

The main square and surrounding streets of each town comes alive with performers of all ages and, as a visitor, you’ll feel like you’re witnessing something few others have seen.

Make it happen: To enjoy Xantolo to the max, you’ll need to rely on local guides that will help you figure out when each town is holding their celebrations. Auténtico San Luis have updated information of the performances and they can drive you from one town to the next.

We recommend you fly into the city of San Luis Potosí and start your journey there. Aquismón and Ciudad Valles have simple and clean accommodation options that can serve as your base to explore the region.