View source for Day of the Dead

{{short description|Mexican multi-day holiday}}
{{about|the Mexican holiday}}{{redirect|Dia de los Muertos|the band|Dia de los Muertos (band)}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox holiday
| holiday_name  = Day of the Dead
| image         = File:Catrina 3.jpg
| caption       = Cempasúchil, [[alfeñique]]s and [[papel picado]] used to decorate an altar
| duration      = 2 days
| frequency     = Annual
| observedby    = [[Mexico]], and regions with large [[Mexicans|Mexican]] populations
| date          = November 2
| begins        = November 1
| ends          = November 2
| celebrations  = Creation of home altars to remember the dead, traditional dishes for the Day of the Dead
| scheduling    = same day each year
| observances   = 
| type          = Cultural
| longtype      = {{ubl|Cultural|Christian (with syncretic elements)<ref name="Foxcroft2019"/>}}
| significance  = Prayer and remembrance of friends and family members who have died
| relatedto     = [[Halloween|All Saints' Eve / All Hallows' Eve]], [[All Saints' Day|All Saints' Day / All Hallows' Day]], [[All Souls' Day]]<ref name="Foxcroft2019"/>
}}

The '''Day of the Dead''' ({{langx|es|Día de (los) Muertos}})<ref>{{cite web |title=''Día de Todos los Santos'', con mayúscula |trans-title=''Día de Todos los Santos'', with capital letters |quote=Día de Todos los Santos, Día de los Fieles Difuntos y Día de (los) Muertos (México) se escriben con mayúscula inicial |trans-quote=''Día de Todos los Santos'', ''Día de los Fieles Difuntos'' and ''Día de (los) Muertos'' (Mexico) are written with initial capital letter |url=https://www.fundeu.es/recomendacion/dia-de-todos-los-santos-con-mayuscula-725/ |publisher=[[Fundéu]] |date=October 29, 2010 |access-date=November 4, 2020 |language=es |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926084730/https://www.fundeu.es/recomendacion/dia-de-todos-los-santos-con-mayuscula-725/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=¿'Día de Muertos' o 'Día de los Muertos'? El nombre usado en México para denominar a la fiesta tradicional en la que se honra a los muertos es 'Día de Muertos', aunque la denominación 'Día de los Muertos' también es gramaticalmente correcta |trans-title='Día de Muertos' or 'Día de los Muertos'? The name used in Mexico to denominate the traditional celebration in which death is honored is 'Día de Muertos', although the denomination 'Día de los Muertos' is also grammatically correct |url=https://twitter.com/raeinforma/status/1190605751158476802 |publisher=[[Royal Spanish Academy]] Official [[Twitter]] Account |date=November 2, 2019 |access-date=November 4, 2020 |language=es |archive-date=April 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402110357/https://twitter.com/RAEinforma/status/1190605751158476802 |url-status=live }}</ref> is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sacred Places of a Lifetime |date=2008 |publisher=[[National Geographic]] |isbn=978-1-4262-0336-7 |page=273 |quote=Day of the Dead celebrations take place over October 31&nbsp;... November 1 (All Saints' Day), and November 2.}}</ref><ref name="SkiboFeinman1999">{{cite book |last1=Skibo |first1=James |last2=Skibo |first2=James M. |last3=Feinman |first3=Gary |title=Pottery and People |date=14 January 1999 |publisher=[[University of Utah Press]] |isbn=978-0-87480-577-2 |page=65 |quote=In Yucatan, however, the Day of the Dead rituals occur on October 31, November 1, and November 6.}}</ref><ref name="Arnold2018">{{cite book |last=Arnold |first=Dean E. |title=Maya Potters' Indigenous Knowledge: Cognition, Engagement, and Practice |date=7 February 2018 |publisher=[[University Press of Colorado]] |isbn=978-1-60732-656-4 |page=206 |quote=pottery as a distilled taskscape is best illustrated in the pottery required for Day of the Dead rituals (on October 31, November 1, and November 6), when the spirits of deceased ancestors come back to the land of the living.}}</ref> The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and  remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember amusing events and anecdotes about the departed.<ref name="MexConnect">{{cite web |last=Palfrey |first=Dale Hoyt |title=The Day of the Dead |url=http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html |url-status=live |work=Día de los Muertos Index |publisher=Access Mexico Connect |year=1995 |access-date=November 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130022858/http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html |archive-date=November 30, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> It is widely observed in [[Mexico]], where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. The observance falls during the Christian period of [[Allhallowtide]].<ref name="Foxcroft2019">{{cite book |last=Foxcroft |first=Nigel H. |title=The Kaleidoscopic Vision of Malcolm Lowry: Souls and Shamans |date=28 October 2019 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-4985-1658-7 |page=130 |quote=However, owing to the subjugation of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Coretes in 1519–1521, this festival increasingly fell under Hispanic influence. It was moved from the beginning of summer to late October—and then to early November—so that it would conicide with the Western Christian triduum (or three-day religious observance) of Allhallowtide (Hallowtide, Allsaintide, or Hallowmas). It lasts from October 31 to November 2 and comprises All Saint's Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day (All Hallows'), and All Souls' Day.}}</ref> Some argue that there are [[Indigenous Mexican]] or ancient [[Aztec]] influences that account for the custom, though others see it as a local expression of the Allhallowtide season that was brought to the region by the Spanish; the Day of the Dead has become a way to remember those forebears of Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead is largely seen as having a festive characteristic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/dia-de-los-muertos/|title=Dia de los Muertos|date=2012-10-17|website=National Geographic Society|access-date=2019-04-08|archive-date=April 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408161730/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/dia-de-los-muertos/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using [[calavera]]s and [[Tagetes erecta|marigold flowers]] known as {{lang|nah|cempazúchitl}}, building [[home altar]]s called {{lang|es|[[ofrenda]]s}} with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dia de los Muertos |url=http://nationalgeographic.org/media/dia-de-los-muertos/ |url-status=dead |date=October 17, 2012 |publisher=National Geographic Society |access-date=November 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102180955/http://nationalgeographic.org/media/dia-de-los-muertos/ |archive-date=November 2, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional [[pan de muerto]] with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock [[epitaph]]s dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as {{lang|es|[[Literary Calavera|calaveras literarias]]}}.<ref name="Chávez">{{cite web |last=Chávez |first=Xóchitl |title=Literary Calaveras |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-latino-center/2018/10/23/literary-calaveras/ |website=Smithsonian Voices |date=October 23, 2018 |access-date=September 29, 2021 |archive-date=September 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929063144/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-latino-center/2018/10/23/literary-calaveras/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the [[Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]] by [[UNESCO]].<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web |title=Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/indigenous-festivity-dedicated-to-the-dead-00054 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011212818/http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00054 |archive-date=October 11, 2014 |access-date=October 31, 2014 |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

== Origins, history, and similarities to other festivities ==
{{Confusing section |reason=too long, need to divide → smaller sections |date=May 2025}}

Mexican academics are divided on whether the festivity has genuine indigenous pre-Hispanic roots or whether it is a 20th-century rebranded version of a Spanish tradition developed during the presidency of [[Lázaro Cárdenas]] to encourage Mexican nationalism through an "Aztec" identity.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Día de muertos, ¿tradición prehispánica o invención del siglo XX? |url=https://relatosehistorias.mx/nuestras-historias/dia-de-muertos-tradicion-prehispanica-o-invencion-del-siglo-xx |website=Relatos e Historias en México |date=November 2, 2020 |access-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124234924/https://relatosehistorias.mx/nuestras-historias/dia-de-muertos-tradicion-prehispanica-o-invencion-del-siglo-xx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web |title=Dos historiadoras encuentran diverso origen del Día de Muertos en México |url=https://www.opinion.com.bo/content/print/historiadoras-encuentran-diverso-origen-dia-muertos-mexico/20071102215414274661 |website=www.opinion.com.bo |date=November 2, 2007 |access-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030075208/https://www.opinion.com.bo/content/print/historiadoras-encuentran-diverso-origen-dia-muertos-mexico/20071102215414274661 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web |title="Día de Muertos, un invento cardenista", decía Elsa Malvido |url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/dia-de-muertos-un-invento-cardenista-decia-elsa-malvido |website=El Universal |date=November 3, 2017 |access-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101104226/https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/dia-de-muertos-un-invento-cardenista-decia-elsa-malvido |url-status=live }}</ref> The festivity has become a national symbol in recent decades and it is taught in the nation's school system asserting a native origin.<ref name="intramed.net">{{cite web |title=El Día de Muertos mexicano nació como arma política o tradición prehispánica – Arte y Cultura |url=https://www.intramed.net/contenidover.asp?contenidoid=49889 |website=www.intramed.net |access-date=October 23, 2020 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026200325/https://www.intramed.net/contenidover.asp?contenidoid=49889 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the [[Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]] by [[UNESCO]].<ref name="UNESCO"/>

Views differ on whether the festivity has indigenous pre-Hispanic roots, whether it is a more modern adaptation of an existing European tradition, or a combination of both as a manifestation of [[syncretism]]. The beginning of the Christian observance of [[Allhallowtide]], including All Saints' Day and its vigil, as well as All Souls' Day, is observed on the same days in places like Spain and Southern Europe, and elsewhere in Christendom.<ref name="Foxcroft2019"/> Critics of the Native American origin claim that even though pre-Columbian Mexico had traditions that honored the dead, current depictions of the festivity have more in common with European traditions of [[Danse macabre]] and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind of the ephemeral nature of life.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=https://www.inah.gob.mx/boletines/1485-origenes-profundamente-catolicos-y-no-prehispanicos-la-fiesta-de-dia-de-muertos-2|title=Orígenes profundamente católicos y no prehispánicos, la fiesta de día de muertos|website=www.inah.gob.mx|access-date=November 5, 2020|archive-date=March 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310114844/https://www.inah.gob.mx/boletines/1485-origenes-profundamente-catolicos-y-no-prehispanicos-la-fiesta-de-dia-de-muertos-2|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> Over the past decades, however, Mexican academia has increasingly questioned the validity of this assumption, even going as far as calling it a politically motivated fabrication. Historian Elsa Malvido, researcher for the Mexican [[Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia]] ([[INAH]], or [[National Institute of Anthropology and History]]) and founder of the institute's Taller de Estudios sobre la Muerte (Workshop of Studies on Death), was the first to do so in the context of her wider research into Mexican attitudes to death and disease across the centuries. Malvido completely discards a native or even syncretic origin arguing that the tradition can be fully traced to Medieval Europe. She highlights the existence of similar traditions on the same day, not just in Spain, but in the rest of Catholic Southern Europe and Latin America such as altars for the dead, sweets in the shape of skulls and bread in the shape of bones.<ref name="auto2"/>

Agustin Sanchez Gonzalez has a similar view in his article published in the INAH's bi-monthly journal ''[[Arqueología Mexicana]]''. Gonzalez states that, even though the "indigenous" narrative became hegemonic, the spirit of the festivity has far more in common with European traditions of [[Danse macabre]] and their allegories of life and death personified in the human skeleton to remind us the ephemeral nature of life. He also highlights that in the 19th-century press there was little mention of the Day of the Dead in the sense that we know it today. All there was were long processions to cemeteries, sometimes ending with drunkenness. Elsa Malvido also points to the recent origin of the tradition of "velar" or staying up all night with the dead. It resulted from the [[Reform Laws]] under the presidency of [[Benito Juarez]] which forced family pantheons out of Churches and into civil cemeteries, requiring rich families to have servants guard family possessions displayed at altars.<ref name="auto2"/>

The historian Ricardo Pérez Montfort has further demonstrated how the ideology known as {{lang|es|[[indigenismo]]}} became more and more closely linked to post-revolutionary official projects whereas [[Hispanismo]] was identified with conservative political stances. This exclusive nationalism began to displace all other cultural perspectives, to the point that in the 1930s the Aztec god [[Quetzalcoatl]] was officially promoted by the government as a substitute for the Spanish [[Biblical Magi|Three Kings]] tradition, with a person dressed up as the deity offering gifts to poor children.<ref name="auto"/>
	
In this context, the Day of the Dead began to be officially isolated from the Catholic Church by the leftist government of [[Lázaro Cárdenas]] motivated both by "indigenismo" and left-leaning [[anti-clericalism]]. Malvido herself goes as far as calling the festivity a "Cardenist invention" whereby the Catholic elements are removed and emphasis is laid on indigenous iconography, the focus on death and what Malvido considers to be the cultural invention according to which Mexicans venerate death.<ref name="auto3"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/2001/11/01/09an1esp.html|title=09an1esp|website=www.jornada.com.mx|access-date=November 5, 2020|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207042258/https://www.jornada.com.mx/2001/11/01/09an1esp.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Gonzalez explains that Mexican [[nationalism]] developed diverse cultural expressions with a seal of tradition but which are essentially social constructs which eventually developed ancestral tones. One of these would be the Catholic Día de Muertos which, during the 20th century, appropriated the elements of an ancient pagan rite.<ref name="auto"/>

One key element of the re-developed festivity which appears during this time is ''[[La Calavera Catrina]]'' by Mexican [[lithographer]] [[José Guadalupe Posada]]. According to Gonzalez, while Posada is portrayed in current times as the "restorer" of Mexico's pre-Hispanic tradition, he was never interested in Native American culture or history. Posada was predominantly interested in drawing scary images which are far closer to those of the European [[renaissance]] or the horrors painted by [[Francisco de Goya]] in the [[Peninsular war|Spanish War of Independence]] against [[Napoleon]] than to the [[Mexica]] [[tzompantli]]. The recent trans-Atlantic connection can also be observed in the pervasive use of [[couplet]] in allegories of death and the play ''[[Don Juan Tenorio]]'' by 19th-century Spanish writer [[José Zorrilla]] which is represented on this date both in Spain and in Mexico since the early 19th century due to its ghostly apparitions and cemetery scenes.<ref name="auto"/>

Opposing views assert that despite the obvious European influence and clear adoption of symbols and traditions as well as co-option of dates and seasons, there exists some proof of pre-Columbian festivities that were similar in spirit if not substance, with the Aztec people having at least six celebrations during the year that were similar to Day of the Dead, the closest one being [[Quecholli]], a celebration that honored Mixcóatl (the god of war) and was celebrated between October 20 and November 8. This celebration included elements such as the placement of altars with food (tamales) near the burying grounds of warriors to help them in their journey to the afterlife.<ref name="auto1"/> Influential Mexican poet and Nobel prize laureate [[Octavio Paz]] strongly supported the syncretic view of the Día de Muertos tradition being a continuity of ancient Aztec festivals celebrating death, as is most evident in the chapter "All Saints, Day of the Dead" of his 1950 book-length essay ''[[The Labyrinth of Solitude]]''.<ref>Paz, Octavio. 'The Labyrinth of Solitude'. N.Y.: Grove Press, 1961.</ref>

Ruben C. Cordova emphasizes the zeal with which the Spanish attempted to extinguish indigenous religious beliefs and practices, such that it is often difficult to reconstruct their main features. Over time, indigenous converts became extremely devout Catholics. As Mexico modernized, the traditional practices that the Spanish had brought to the Americas survived most robustly in rural and less affluent communities, which had high concentrations of indigenous and mestizo populations. Thus archaic Spanish religious practices in marginal areas came to be mistakenly regarded as the "pure" core of primarily "indigenous" Day of the Dead festivities.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=October 31, 2019 |title=Is Day of the Dead More Indigenous or Catholic? Friars Durán and Sahagún vs. Wikipedia |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2019/10/31/is-day-of-the-dead-more-indigenous-or-catholic-friars-duran-and-sahagun-vs-wikipedia/ |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313150230/https://glasstire.com/2019/10/31/is-day-of-the-dead-more-indigenous-or-catholic-friars-duran-and-sahagun-vs-wikipedia/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |url=https://www.getcreativesanantonio.com/Portals/3/Files/DOD_CATALGOGUE_digital.pdf |title=The Day of the Dead in Art |publisher=The City of San Antonio, Department of Arts & Culture |year=2019 |location=San Antonio |pages=32–33 |access-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202092733/https://www.getcreativesanantonio.com/Portals/3/Files/DOD_CATALGOGUE_digital.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 1, 2020 |title=A brief history of Day of the Dead |work=San Antonio Report |url=https://sanantonioreport.org/a-brief-history-of-day-of-the-dead/ |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313150230/https://sanantonioreport.org/a-brief-history-of-day-of-the-dead/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Aztecs devoted two twenty-day months in their ritual calendar to the dead: the ninth and tenth months, which were for children and adults, respectively. Cordova argues that some recollection of these festivals "was compressed down to two days and cryptically celebrated within the Catholic liturgical calendar", which is why, in Mexico, "unlike other Latin American countries with Day of the Dead traditions — All Saints' Day is dedicated to children, and All Souls' Day is dedicated to adults."<ref name=":3" /> 

He also notes that the same object, such as a stone skull carved by the Aztecs, would have different meanings in different religious contexts. For the Aztecs, bones—and skulls in particular—were reservoirs of enormous sacred power. A stone skull could evoke sacrifice, and the skull racks where the skulls of sacrificed captives were displayed. The Spanish could take an Aztec skull and repurpose it by placing it on a holy water font, or under a cross in a cemetery, whereby it would be transformed into a memento mori.<ref name=":3" />

Regardless of its origin, the festivity has become a national symbol in Mexico and as such is taught in the nation's school system, typically asserting a native origin. It is also a [[Academic year#School holidays|school holiday]] nationwide.<ref name="intramed.net"/>

==Observance in Mexico==

=== Altars and installations in Mexico City museums and public spaces ===
In the 2015 [[James Bond]] film ''[[Spectre (2015 film)|Spectre]]'', the opening sequence features a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City. At the time, no such parade took place in Mexico City; one year later, due to the interest in the film and the government desire to promote the Mexican culture, the federal and local authorities decided to organize an actual {{lang|es|Día de Muertos}} parade through [[Paseo de la Reforma]] and [[Historic center of Mexico City|Centro Historico]] on October 29, 2016, which was attended by 250,000 people.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/day-of-dead-james-bond-mexico-b2439974.html How James Bond inspired Mexico City’s Day of the Dead parade] </ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37813562|title=Mexico City stages first Day of the Dead parade|date=October 29, 2016|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=November 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030142729/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37813562|archive-date=October 30, 2016|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.excelsior.com.mx/comunidad/2016/10/30/1125178#imagen-3|title=Fotogalería: Desfile por Día de Muertos reúne a 250 mil personas|date=October 29, 2016|work=[[Excélsior]]|language=spanish|access-date=November 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031150523/http://www.excelsior.com.mx/comunidad/2016/10/30/1125178%23#imagen-3|archive-date=October 31, 2016|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://noticieros.televisa.com/fotos/mexico/2016-10-29/desfile-dia-muertos-cdmx.photo-1/|title=Galerías Archivo|publisher=Televisa News|access-date=November 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103235844/http://noticieros.televisa.com/fotos/mexico/2016-10-29/desfile-dia-muertos-cdmx.photo-1/|archive-date=November 3, 2016|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> This could be seen as an example of the [[pizza effect]]. The idea of a massive celebration was also popularized in the Disney Pixar movie ''[[Coco (2017 film)|Coco]]''.

A number of Mexico City's museums and public spaces have played an important part in developing and promoting urban Day of the Dead traditions through altars and installations. These notable organizations include: Anahuacalli, The Frida Kahlo Museum, The Museum of Popular Cultures, The Dolores Olmedo Museum, The Museum of the First Printing Press, and The Cloister of Sor Juana. From turn of the millennium until the imposition of the James Bond-inspired parade, remarkable large-scale installations were created on the Zocalo, Mexico City's central square.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 2, 2019 |title=A Guide to Day of the Dead in Mexico City |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2019/11/02/a-guide-to-day-of-the-dead-in-mexico-city/ |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313155248/https://glasstire.com/2019/11/02/a-guide-to-day-of-the-dead-in-mexico-city/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Altars ({{lang|es|ofrendas}}) ===
[[File:Altardediademuertos.jpg|thumb|{{lang|es|Día de Muertos}} altar commemorating a deceased man in [[Milpa Alta]], [[Mexico City]]]]
During Día de Muertos, the tradition is to build private altars ("ofrendas") containing the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and the words of the living directed to them. These altars are often placed at home or in public spaces such as schools and libraries, but it is also common for people to go to cemeteries to place these altars next to the tombs of the departed.<ref name="MexConnect"/>

Plans for the day are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the three-day period families usually clean and decorate graves;<ref name="Salvador">{{cite book  | last = Salvador | first = R.J. | editor = John D. Morgan and Pittu Laungani | title = Death and Bereavement Around the World: Death and Bereavement in the Americas | series = Death, Value and Meaning Series, Vol. II | year = 2003 | publisher = Baywood Publishing Company | location = Amityville, New York | isbn = 978-0-89503-232-4 | pages = 75–76}}</ref> most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with {{lang|es|[[ofrenda (ritual offering)|ofrendas]]}} (altars), which often include orange Mexican marigolds (''[[Tagetes erecta]]'') called {{lang|es|cempasúchil}} (originally named {{lang|nci|cempōhualxōchitl}}, [[Nahuatl language|Nāhuatl]] for 'twenty flowers'). In modern Mexico the marigold is sometimes called {{lang|es|Flor de Muerto}} ('Flower of Dead'). These flowers are thought to attract [[Soul (spirit)|souls]] of the dead to the offerings. It is also believed the bright petals with a strong scent can guide the souls from cemeteries to their family homes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://insider.si.edu/2016/10/5-facts-dia-de-los-muertos-day-dead/|title=5 Facts About Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead)|publisher=Smithsonian Insider|date=30 October 2016|access-date=August 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829175320/https://insider.si.edu/2016/10/5-facts-dia-de-los-muertos-day-dead/|archive-date=August 29, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Brandes|first=Stanley|date=1997|title=Sugar, Colonialism, and Death: On the Origins of Mexico's Day of the Dead|journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History|volume=39|issue=2|pages=275|doi=10.1017/S0010417500020624|issn=0010-4175|jstor=179316|s2cid=145402658}}</ref> The common name in English, marigold, is derived from ''Mary's gold'', a name first applied to a similar plant native to Europe, ''[[Calendula officinalis]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/putnamco/2023/10/26/marigolds-blooms-of-cultural-significance/ |title=Marigolds: Blooms of Cultural Significance |author=Julio Perez |date=October 26, 2023 |website=[[Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences]], [[University of Florida]] |access-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109070139/https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/putnamco/2023/10/26/marigolds-blooms-of-cultural-significance/ |archive-date=November 9, 2023  |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite web |url=https://gardening.usask.ca/articles-and-lists/articles-plant-descriptions/annuals/marigold.php |title=Marigold - Tagetes sp. |date=May 2, 2021 |website=[[University of Saskatchewan]] - College of Agriculture and Bioresources |access-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109071240/https://gardening.usask.ca/articles-and-lists/articles-plant-descriptions/annuals/marigold.php |archive-date=November 9, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/m/marigolds-marys-gold.php |title=Marigolds: Mary's Gold |author=Brother John M. Samaha, S.M. |website=[[University of Dayton]] |access-date=November 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419130406/https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/m/marigolds-marys-gold.php |archive-date=April 19, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Toys are brought for dead children ({{lang|es|los angelitos}}, or 'the little angels'), and bottles of [[tequila]], [[mezcal]] or [[pulque]] or jars of {{lang|es|[[atole]]}} for adults. Families will also offer trinkets or the deceased's favorite candies on the grave. Some families have {{lang|es|ofrendas}} in homes, usually with foods such as candied pumpkin, {{lang|es|[[pan de muerto]]}} ('bread of dead'), and [[sugar skull]]s; and beverages such as {{lang|es|atole}}. The {{lang|es|ofrendas}} are left out in the homes as a welcoming gesture for the deceased.<ref name="Salvador" /><ref name=":0" /> Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the {{lang|es|ofrendas}}' food, so though the celebrators eat the food after the festivities, they believe it lacks nutritional value. Pillows and blankets are left out so the deceased can rest after their long journey. In some parts of Mexico, such as the towns of [[San Andrés Mixquic|Mixquic]], [[Pátzcuaro]] and [[Janitzio]], people spend all night beside the graves of their relatives. In many places, people have picnics at the grave site, as well.

[[File:CemetarioAlmoloyaRio1995.jpg|thumb|Families tidying and decorating graves at a cemetery in [[Almoloya del Río]] in the [[State of Mexico]], 1995]]
Some families build [[altar]]s or small [[shrine]]s in their homes;<ref name="Salvador" /> these sometimes feature a [[Christian cross]], statues or pictures of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]], pictures of deceased relatives and other people, scores of candles, and an {{lang|es|ofrenda}}. Traditionally, families spend some time around the altar, praying and telling anecdotes about the deceased. In some locations, celebrants wear shells on their clothing, so when they dance, the noise will wake up the dead; some will also dress up as the deceased.

==== Food ====
During Day of the Dead festivities, food is both eaten by living people and given to the spirits of their departed ancestors as {{lang|es|ofrendas}} ('offerings').<ref name="history.com">{{cite web |last=Turim |first=Gayle |title=Day of the Dead Sweets and Treats |url=http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/day-of-the-dead-sweets-and-treats |url-status=live |work=History Stories |publisher=[[History (U.S. TV network)|History Channel]] |date=November 2, 2012 |access-date=July 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606104432/http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/day-of-the-dead-sweets-and-treats |archive-date=June 6, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> {{lang|es|[[Tamales]]}} are one of the most common dishes prepared for this day for both purposes.<ref name="NPR">{{cite news |last=Godoy |first=Maria |title=Sugar Skulls, Tamales And More: Why Is That Food On The Day Of The Dead Altar? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/11/01/500242132/sugar-skulls-tamales-and-more-why-is-that-food-on-the-day-of-the-dead-altar |url-status=live |publisher=NPR |date=November 2016 |access-date=October 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028043035/http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/11/01/500242132/sugar-skulls-tamales-and-more-why-is-that-food-on-the-day-of-the-dead-altar |archive-date=October 28, 2017 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

[[File:Oaxaca Mexico- personal family shrine for Day of the Dead.jpg|thumb|Family altar for the Day of the Dead on a patio]]

{{lang|es|[[Pan de muerto]]}} and {{lang|es|[[calavera]]s}} are associated specifically with Day of the Dead. {{lang|es|Pan de muerto}} is a type of sweet roll shaped like a bun, topped with sugar, and often decorated with bone-shaped pieces of the same pastry.<ref>{{cite news|last=Castella|first=Krystina|title=Pan de Muerto Recipe|url=http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pan-de-muerto-361449|access-date=November 2, 2019|publisher=[[Epicurious]]|date=October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708165548/http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pan-de-muerto-361449|archive-date=July 8, 2015|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> {{lang|es|Calaveras}}, or sugar skulls, display colorful designs to represent the vitality and individual personality of the departed.<ref name="NPR" />

In addition to food, drinks are also important to the tradition of Day of the Dead. Historically, the main alcoholic drink was [[pulque]]; today families will commonly drink the favorite beverage of their deceased ancestors.<ref name="NPR" /> Other drinks associated with the holiday are {{lang|es|[[atole]]}} and {{lang|es|[[champurrado]]}}, warm, thick, non-alcoholic [[masa]] drinks.

{{lang|es|Agua de Jamaica}} (water of [[Hibiscus tea|hibiscus]]) is a popular herbal tea made of the flowers and leaves of the Jamaican hibiscus plant (''[[Hibiscus sabdariffa]]''), known as {{lang|es|flor de Jamaica}} in Mexico. It is served cold and quite sweet with a lot of ice. The ruby-red beverage is also known as [[hibiscus tea]] in English-speaking countries.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jamaica iced tea|url=http://cookinginmexico.com/2011/09/28/jamaica-iced-tea/|publisher=Cooking in Mexico|access-date=October 23, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104072645/http://cookinginmexico.com/2011/09/28/jamaica-iced-tea/|archive-date=November 4, 2011}}</ref>

In the [[Yucatán Peninsula]], [[mukbil pollo]] ([[píib]] chicken) is traditionally prepared on October 31 or November 1, and eaten by the family throughout the following days. It is similar to a big tamale, composed of masa and pork lard, and stuffed with pork, chicken, tomato, garlic, peppers, onions, [[epazote]], [[achiote]], and spices. Once stuffed, the mukbil pollo is bathed in [[kool sauce]], made with meat broth, habanero chili, and corn masa. It is then covered in banana leaves and steamed in an underground oven over the course of several hours. Once cooked, it is dug up and opened to eat.<ref>{{cite book|title=Cocina esencial de México|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esmLDwAAQBAJ|last=Kennedy|first=D.|publisher=Fondo de Cultura Económica|page=156|year=2018|access-date=2021-06-01|isbn=9786071656636|archive-date=November 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103135408/https://books.google.com/books?id=esmLDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Muñoz Zurita |first=Ricardo |chapter=Muc bil pollo |title=Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana |trans-title=Encyclopedic dictionary of Mexican Gastronomy |url=https://laroussecocina.mx/ |publisher=Larousse Cocina |language=es |access-date=November 2, 2021 |archive-date=November 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102203801/https://laroussecocina.mx/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== ''Calaveras'' ===
A common [[symbol]] of the holiday is the skull (in Spanish {{lang|es|[[calavera]]}}), which celebrants represent in [[mask]]s, called {{lang|es|[[calaca]]s}} (colloquial term for skeleton), and foods such as [[chocolate]] or sugar skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Sugar skulls can be given as gifts to both the living and the dead.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Day of the Dead in the USA : The Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon|last=Marchi|first=Regina M|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8135-4557-8|location=New Brunswick|pages=17}}</ref> Other holiday foods include {{lang|es|pan de muerto}}, a sweet [[egg (food)|egg]] bread made in various shapes from plain rounds to skulls, often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.<ref name=":0" />

=== {{lang|es|nocat=true|Calaverita}} ===
In some parts of the country, especially the larger cities, children in costumes roam the streets, knocking on people's doors for a {{lang|es|calaverita}}, a small gift of candies or money; they also ask passersby for it. This custom is similar to that of [[Halloween]]'s [[trick-or-treating]] in the United States, but without the component of mischief to homeowners if no treat is given.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mexperience.com/mi-calaverita-mexicos-trick-or-treat/#:~:text=On%20the%20night%20of%20November,hollowed%2Dout%20and%20glowing%20pumpkins.|title=Mi Calaverita: Mexico's Trick or Treat|date=October 31, 2020|website=Mexperience|access-date=September 29, 2021|archive-date=September 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929063145/https://www.mexperience.com/mi-calaverita-mexicos-trick-or-treat/#:~:text=On%20the%20night%20of%20November,hollowed%2Dout%20and%20glowing%20pumpkins.|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== {{lang|es|nocat=true|Calaveras literarias}} ===
A distinctive literary form exists within this holiday where people write short [[poem]]s in traditional rhyming [[Verse (poetry)|verse]], called {{lang|es|[[Literary Calavera|calaveras literarias]]}} ({{lit|literary skulls}}), which are mocking, light-hearted [[epitaph]]s mostly dedicated to friends, classmates, co-workers, or family members (living or dead) but also to public or historical figures, describing interesting habits and attitudes, as well as comedic or absurd anecdotes that use death-related imagery which includes but is not limited to cemeteries, skulls, or the [[grim reaper]], all of this in situations where the dedicatee has an encounter with death itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/these-wicked-day-of-the-dead-poems-dont-spare-anyone|title=These wicked Day of the Dead poems don't spare anyone|date=2018-11-02|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-06|archive-date=May 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506162713/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/these-wicked-day-of-the-dead-poems-dont-spare-anyone|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Cordova, Ruben C. (2005). "Calaveras". In Ilan Stavans, ed. in chief, and Harold Augenbraum, assoc. ed., ''Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States.'' Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 4 vols.: I: 248 – 249.</ref> This custom originated in the 18th or 19th century after a [[newspaper]] published a poem narrating a dream of a cemetery in the future which included the words "and all of us were dead", and then proceeding to read the tombstones. Current newspapers dedicate {{lang|es|calaveras literarias}} to public figures, with [[cartoon]]s of [[skeleton]]s in the style of the famous {{lang|es|[[calavera]]s}} of [[José Guadalupe Posada]], a Mexican illustrator.<ref name=":1" /> In modern Mexico, {{lang|es|calaveras literarias}} are a staple of the holiday in many institutions and organizations, for example, in public schools, students are encouraged or required to write them as part of the language class.<ref name="Chávez"/>

[[File:Posada2.Catrina.jpeg|thumbnail|right|José Guadalupe Posada's depiction of La Calavera Catrina, shown wearing a then-fashionable [[1900s in Western fashion|early 20th-century hat]].<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 2, 2019 |title=José Guadalupe Posada and Diego Rivera Fashion Catrina: From Sellout To National Icon (and Back Again?) |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2019/11/02/jose-guadalupe-posada-and-diego-rivera-fashion-catrina-from-sellout-to-national-icon-and-back-again/ |access-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312015330/https://glasstire.com/2019/11/02/jose-guadalupe-posada-and-diego-rivera-fashion-catrina-from-sellout-to-national-icon-and-back-again/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]


Posada's most famous print, {{lang|es|[[La Calavera Catrina]]}} ("The Elegant Skull"), was likely intended as a criticism of Mexican upper-class women who imitated European fashions. It was first published posthumously in a broadside with a text (not by Posada) that mocked working-class vendors of [[chickpea]]s.<ref name=":2" />

Posada's image of a skeletal figure with a big hat decorated with two ostrich feathers and flowers was elaborated into a full scale figure by [[Mexican muralism|Mexican Muralist]] [[Diego Rivera]] in a [[fresco]] painted in 1946–47. Rivera's Catrina has a simple [[Tehuantepec|Tehuana]] dress and a feather boa, as well as other features that make allusions to the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Through the addition of these indigenous features, Rivera rehabilitated Catrina into a nationalist emblem.<ref name=":2" />

The Catrina character has become deeply associated with the Day of the Dead. Catrina figures made of a wide range of materials, as well as people with Catrina costumes, have come to play a prominent role in modern Day of the Dead observances in Mexico and elsewhere. The Catrina phenomenon has in fact gone beyond Day of the Dead, resulting in non-seasonal and even permanent "Catrinas", including COVID-19 masks, tattoos, permanently decorated cars, and Catrina-themed artworks.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 2, 2020 |title=Catrina Mania! |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2020/11/02/catrina-mania/ |access-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312015332/https://glasstire.com/2020/11/02/catrina-mania/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 1, 2021 |title=Catrina Mania III |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2021/11/01/catrina-mania-iii/ |access-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312015333/https://glasstire.com/2021/11/01/catrina-mania-iii/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some artists have even developed a sub-specialization in Catrina imagery.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=October 30, 2022 |title=Catrina Mania IV: Brandon Maldonado's Catrinas |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2022/10/30/catrina-mania-iv-brandon-maldonados-catrinas/ |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313153031/https://glasstire.com/2022/10/30/catrina-mania-iv-brandon-maldonados-catrinas/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Theatrical]] presentations of ''[[Don Juan Tenorio]]'' by [[José Zorrilla y Moral|José Zorrilla]] (1817–1893) are also traditional on this day.

=== Local traditions ===
{{more citations needed|Local traditions section|date=May 2019|talk=|small=}}
The traditions and activities that take place in celebration of the Day of the Dead are not universal, often varying from town to town. For example, in the town of [[Pátzcuaro]] on the [[Lago de Pátzcuaro]] in [[Michoacán]], the tradition is very different if the deceased is a child rather than an adult. On November 1 of the year after a child's death, the [[godparents]] set a table in the parents' home with sweets, fruits, {{lang|es|pan de muerto}}, a cross, a rosary (used to ask the Virgin Mary to pray for them), and candles. This is meant to celebrate the child's life, in respect and appreciation for the parents. There is also dancing with colorful costumes, often with skull-shaped masks and devil masks in the plaza or garden of the town. At midnight on November 2, the people light candles and ride winged boats called {{lang|es|mariposas}} (butterflies) to Janitzio, an island in the middle of the lake where there is a cemetery, to honor and celebrate the lives of the dead there.

In contrast, the town of [[Ocotepec, Cuernavaca, Morelos|Ocotepec]], north of [[Cuernavaca]] in the State of [[Morelos]], opens its doors to visitors in exchange for {{lang|es|veladoras}} (small wax candles) to show respect for the recently deceased. In return, the visitors receive [[tamales]] and {{lang|es|atole}}. This is done only by the owners of the house where someone in the household has died in the previous year. Many people of the surrounding areas arrive early to eat for free and enjoy the elaborate altars set up to receive the visitors.

Another unique tradition involving children is {{lang|es|La [[Danza de los Viejitos]]}} (the Dance of the Old Men), where boys and young men dressed like grandfathers crouch and jump in an energetic dance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rove.me/to/mexico/dia-de-los-muertos-or-day-of-the-dead|title=Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead|access-date=August 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829175333/https://rove.me/to/mexico/dia-de-los-muertos-or-day-of-the-dead|archive-date=August 29, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Observances outside of Mexico==
{{See also|Festival of the Dead}}
===North America===
====United States====
[[File:Flower of the Dead ánima (memorial).jpg|thumb|upright|An {{lang|es|ánima}} ({{literal translation|soul}}) for the dead.]]
In many communities in the United States with Mexican residents, Day of the Dead celebrations are very similar to those held in Mexico. In some of these communities, in states such as [[Texas]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Wise |first=Danno |date= |title=Port Isabel's Day of the Dead Celebration |url=http://gotexas.about.com/od/festivals/a/Dayofdead.htm |website=About.com: Texas Travel |location= |publisher=[[People Inc.|About.com]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209152438/http://gotexas.about.com/od/festivals/a/Dayofdead.htm |archive-date=December 9, 2007 |access-date=November 28, 2007 }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=October 2025}} [[New Mexico]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Dia de los Muertos Events & Activities |url=http://www.visitalbuquerque.org/abq365/events/fall/dia-de-los-muertos/|publisher=Visit Albuquerque |access-date=November 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103173716/http://www.visitalbuquerque.org/abq365/events/fall/dia-de-los-muertos/ |archive-date=November 3, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Arizona]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Hedding |first=Judy |date=21 September 2007 |title=Day of The Dead Celebrations |url=https://www.tripsavvy.com/dia-de-los-muertos-2681752 |website=About.com: Phoenix, AZ |location= |publisher=[[People Inc.|About.com]] |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211012536/http://phoenix.about.com/od/events/a/dayofthedead.htm |archive-date=December 11, 2007 |access-date=November 28, 2007}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=October 2025}} the celebrations tend to be mostly traditional. The [[All Soul's Weekend|All Souls' Procession]] has been an annual event since 1990 in [[Tucson, Arizona]]. The event combines elements of traditional Day of the Dead celebrations with those of pagan harvest festivals. People wearing masks carry signs honoring the dead and an urn in which people can place slips of paper with prayers on them to be burned.<ref>{{cite news |last=White |first=Erin |date=November 5, 2006 |title=All Souls Procession |url=https://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/history-and-culture/article_2559ba14-4db3-557e-a115-66bfc0a29f2b.html |newspaper=[[Arizona Daily Star]] |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251001205102/https://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/history-and-culture/article_2559ba14-4db3-557e-a115-66bfc0a29f2b.html |archive-date=1 October 2025 |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref> Likewise, Old Town San Diego, California, annually hosts a traditional two-day celebration culminating in a candlelight procession to the historic El Campo Santo Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=Cafe Coyote Presents Old Town San Diego's Dia De Los Muertos |url= http://sddayofthedead.org/ |website=Old Town San Diego's Dia De Los Muertos |location= |publisher=[[Save Our Heritage Organisation]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107110640/http://sddayofthedead.org/ |archive-date=November 7, 2014 |access-date=October 19, 2014}}</ref>

The festival also was held annually at historic [[Forest Hills Cemetery]] in [[Boston|Boston's]] [[Jamaica Plain]] neighborhood. Sponsored by Forest Hills Educational Trust and the folkloric performance group La Piñata, the Day of the Dead festivities celebrated the cycle of life and death. People brought offerings of flowers, photos, mementos, and food for their departed loved ones, which they placed at an elaborately and colorfully decorated altar. A program of traditional music and dance also accompanied the community event. The Jamaica Plain celebration was discontinued in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |last=Oliveira |first=Rebeca |date=4 November 2011 |title=Day of the Dead Dies as Cemetery Cuts Arts |url=https://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2011/11/04/day-of-the-dead-dies-as-cemetery-cuts-arts/ |newspaper=Jamaica Plain Gazette |location= |publisher=[[The Independent Newspaper Group]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019154458/https://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2011/11/04/day-of-the-dead-dies-as-cemetery-cuts-arts/ |archive-date=19 October 2022 |access-date=19 October 2022}}</ref>

The [[Smithsonian Institution]], in collaboration with the [[University of Texas at El Paso]] and [[Second Life]], have created a Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum and accompanying multimedia e-book: ''Día de los Muertos: Day of the Dead''. The project's website contains some of the text and images which explain the origins of some of the customary core practices related to the Day of the Dead, such as the background beliefs and the {{lang|es|offrenda}} (the special altar commemorating one's deceased loved one).<ref>{{cite book |author=Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum |date=23 October 2014 |title=Día de los Muertos: Day of the Dead |url=https://books.apple.com/us/book/d%C3%ADa-de-los-muertos/id930169569 |location= |others=Illustrated by [[Stacey Fox]] |edition=version 1.2 |publisher=[[Smithsonian Latino Center]] |page= |isbn= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222045935/https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/dia-de-los-muertos/id930169569?mt=11 |archive-date=22 December 2014 |access-date=October 31, 2014}}{{Promotional source|date=October 2025}}</ref>{{Promotion inline|date=October 2025}} The Made For [[iTunes]] multimedia e-book version provides additional content, such as further details; additional photo galleries; pop-up profiles of influential Latino artists and cultural figures over the decades; and video clips<ref>{{cite web |author=Smithsonian Latino Center |author-link=Smithsonian Latino Center |date= |title=National Museum of the American Latino |url=https://video.ibm.com/channel/smithsonian-latino-center |website=[[IBM Cloud Video|IBM Video Streaming]] |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031140943/http://www.ustream.tv/channel/smithsonian-latino-virtual-museum |archive-date=October 31, 2014 |access-date=October 31, 2014 }}{{Promotional source|date=October 2025}}</ref> of interviews with artists who make {{lang|es|Día de Muertos}}-themed artwork, explanations and performances of Aztec and other traditional dances, an animation short that explains the customs to children, virtual poetry readings in English and Spanish.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |title=Day of the Dead |url=https://latino.si.edu/DayoftheDead |website=[[Smithsonian Latino Center]] |location= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112194321/http://latino.si.edu/dayofthedead/ |archive-date=November 12, 2014 |access-date=October 31, 2014}}{{Promotional source|date=October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=<!-- not stated --> |date=October 15, 2014 |title=Smithsonian-UTEP Día de los Muertos Festival |url=https://latino.si.edu/about/press-room/smithsonian-latino-center-celebrates-day-dead |website=[[Smithsonian Latino Center]] |location= |publisher= |id=SI-511-2014 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313024529/http://latino.si.edu/education/LVMDayoftheDeadFestival.htm |archive-date=13 March 2015 |access-date=October 31, 2014}}{{Promotional source|date=October 2025}}</ref>{{Promotion inline|date=October 2025}}

In 2021, the [[Presidency of Joe Biden|Biden-Harris administration]] celebrated the {{lang|es|Día de Muertos}}.<ref>{{Cite tweet |((author=La Casa Blanca 46 Archived)) |author-link=Presidency of Joe Biden |user=LaCasaBlanca46 |number=1455331550820700162 |date=November 1, 2021 |title=Feliz Día de los Muertos de la Administración Biden-Harris. Hoy y mañana, el Presidente y la Primera Dama reconocerán el Día de los Muertos con la primera ofrenda ubicada en la Casa Blanca. |script-title= |trans-title= |language=Spanish |retweet= |location= |access-date=November 4, 2021 |link= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |quote= |ref=}}</ref>

=====California=====
[[File:Dia de los Muertos Celebration in Mission District of San Francisco, CA.jpg|thumb|Women with calaveras makeup celebrating {{lang|es|Día de Muertos}} in the [[Mission District]] of San Francisco, California.]]
The celebration of the Day of the Dead in [[Santa Ana, California]] has grown to two large events with the creation of an event held at the [[Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center]] for the first time on November 1, 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kwong |first=Jessica |date=October 30, 2015 |title=Viva la Vida or Noche de Altares? Santa Ana's Downtown Division Fuels Dueling Day of the Dead Events |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2015/10/30/viva-la-vida-or-noche-de-altares-santa-anas-downtown-division-fuels-dueling-day-of-the-dead-events/ |newspaper=[[The Orange County Register]] |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103205441/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/downtown-689840-cordova-event.html |archive-date=3 November 2015 |access-date=November 2, 2015}}</ref> The city also holds the largest annual {{lang|es|Noche de Altares}} in southern California, which began in 2002.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bharath |first=Deepa |date=October 30, 2015 |title=Less-Scary Holiday: Some Faith Groups Offer Alternatives to Halloween Trick-or-Treating |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2015/10/30/less-scary-holiday-some-faith-groups-offer-alternatives-to-halloween-trick-or-treating/ |newspaper=[[The Orange County Register]] |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031115047/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/halloween-689815-orange-year.html |archive-date=31 October 2015 |access-date=November 2, 2015}}</ref> 

In other communities, interactions between Mexican traditions and American culture are resulting in celebrations in which Mexican traditions are being extended to make artistic or sometimes political statements.{{Clarify timeframe|date=October 2025}} For example, in [[Los Angeles, California]], the [[Self Help Graphics & Art]] Mexican-American cultural center presents an annual Day of the Dead celebration that includes both traditional and political elements, such as altars to honor the victims of the [[Iraq War]], highlighting the high casualty rate among Latino soldiers. An updated, intercultural version of the Day of the Dead is also evolving at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.<ref>{{cite news |last=Quinones |first=Sam |author-link1=Sam Quinones |date=28 October 2006 |title=Making a Night of Day of the Dead |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-28-me-dead28-story.html |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122201006/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-28-me-dead28-story.html |archive-date=22 January 2025 |access-date=November 26, 2006}}</ref>{{Clarify timeframe|date=October 2025}} There, in a mixture of [[Indigenous peoples of California|Native Californian]] art, Mexican traditions and Hollywood hip, conventional altars are set up side by side with altars to [[Jayne Mansfield]] and [[Johnny Ramone]]. Colorful native dancers and music intermix with [[performance art]]ists, while others play on traditional themes.

Similar traditional and intercultural updating of Mexican celebrations are held in [[San Francisco]]. For example, the [[Galería de la Raza]], SomArts Cultural Center, Mission Cultural Center, [[de Young Museum]] and altars at [[Garfield Square]] by the Marigold Project.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date= |title=San Francisco Day of the Dead Procession and Festival of Altars Sunday, November 2, 2014 |url=http://www.dayofthedeadsf.org/ |website=Dia de los Muertos [Day of the Dead] - San Francisco |location= |publisher=Marigold Project |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017054851/http://www.dayofthedeadsf.org/ |archive-date=17 October 2014 |access-date=October 19, 2014 }}</ref> Oakland is home to {{lang|es|Corazon Del Pueblo}} in the Fruitvale district. {{lang|es|Corazon Del Pueblo}} has a shop offering handcrafted Mexican gifts and a museum devoted to Day of the Dead artifacts and serves as the hub of the {{lang|es|Día de Muertos}} annual festival which occurs the last weekend of October. Here, a mix of several Mexican traditions come together with traditional Aztec dancers, regional Mexican music, and other Mexican artisans to celebrate the day.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oranges-on-the-Altars-for-Fruitvale-s-Day-of-the-2699910.php |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |first=Vicky |last=Elliott |title=Oranges on the Altars for Fruitvale's Day of the Dead |date=October 27, 2000 |access-date=August 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012185422/https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/oranges-on-the-altars-for-fruitvale-s-day-of-the-2699910.php |archive-date=12 October 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[San Diego]], a city that borders Mexico, the celebrations range across the entire county. All the way up at the most northern part of the county, [[Oceanside, California|Oceanside]] celebrates their annual event which includes community and family altars built around the Oceanside Civic Center and Pier View Way, as well as events at the [[Mission San Luis Rey de Francia]]. In the more central area of San Diego, [[City Heights, San Diego|City Heights]] celebrates through a public festival in Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park that includes at least 35 altars, lowriders, and entertainment, all for free. Down in [[Chula Vista, California|Chula Vista]], they celebrate the tradition through a movie night at Third and Davidson streets where they will be screening ''[[Coco (2017 film)|Coco]]''.{{Clarify timeframe|date=October 2025}} This movie night also consists of a community altar, an altar contest, a {{lang|es|[[La Calavera Catrina|catrin/catrina]]}} contest, as well as lots of music, food, and vendors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McIntosh |first1=Linda |last2=Groch |first2=Laura |date=2022-10-20 |title=Celebrate Dia de los Muertos in San Diego County With These Festive Events |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/north-county-community-news/story/2022-10-20/dia-de-los-muertos-festivities-happening-across-north-county |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |language=en-US |archive-date=November 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101205344/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/north-county-community-news/story/2022-10-20/dia-de-los-muertos-festivities-happening-across-north-county |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Europe===
====Czech Republic====
As part of a promotion by the Mexican embassy in [[Prague]], since the late 20th century, some local citizens join in a Mexican-style Day of the Dead. A theater group conducts events involving candles, masks, and make-up using [[luminous paint]] in the form of sugar skulls.<ref>{{cite news |last=Udell |first=Emily |date=2 November 2006 |title=Praguers Celebrate Mexican Day Honoring the Departed |url=https://english.radio.cz/praguers-celebrate-mexican-day-honoring-departed-8614212 |work=[[Radio Prague]] |location= |publisher= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024162521/http://www.radio.cz/en/article/84857 |archive-date=October 24, 2007 |access-date=October 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Vargas |date=October 14, 2019 |title=48 Best Sugar Skull Makeup Creations to Win Halloween |url=https://glaminati.com/sugar-skull-makeup-creations/ |website=Glaminti |location= |publisher= |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018085258/https://glaminati.com/sugar-skull-makeup-creations/ |archive-date=18 October 2019 |access-date=14 October 2019}}{{Self-published source|date=October 2025}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|date=October 2025}}

====Italy====
{{Cleanup translation|Italian|section|date=October 2025}}
In [[Italy]], November 2 is [[All Souls' Day]] and is colloquially known as Day of the Dead or {{lang|it|Giorno dei Morti}}. While many regional nuances exist, celebrations generally consist of placing flowers at cemeteries and family burial sites and speaking to deceased relatives.<ref name="nationalgeographic.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/exhumation-ceremony-day-dead-history-family |title=Witness Historic Day of the Dead Rituals in Naples, Italy |access-date=2 November 2022 |website=National Geographic |date=November 20, 2018 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102235329/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/exhumation-ceremony-day-dead-history-family |url-status=live}}</ref> Some traditions also include lighting a red candle or {{lang|it|lumino}} on the window sills at sunset and laying out a table of food for deceased relatives who will come to visit. Like other Day of the Dead traditions around the world, Giorno dei Morti is a day dedicated to honoring the lives of those who have died. Additionally, it is a tradition that teaches children not to be afraid of death.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}

In [[Sicily]], families celebrate a long-held Day of the Dead tradition called The Festival of the Dead or {{lang|scn|Festa dei Morti}}. On the eve of November 1, {{lang|scn|La Festa di Ognissanti}}, or [[All Saints' Day]], older family members act as the {{lang|scn|defunti}}, or spirits of deceased family members, who sneak into the home and hide sweets and gifts for their young descendants to awake to. On the morning of November 2, children begin the day by hunting to find the gifts in shoes or a special wicker basket of the dead called {{lang|scn|cannistru dei morti}} or {{lang|scn|u cannistru}}, which typically consist of various sweets, small toys, boned-shaped almond flavored cookies called {{lang|scn|ossa dei morti}}, sugar dolls called {{lang|scn|pupi di Zucchero}}, and fruit, vegetable, and ghoul-shaped [[marzipan]] treats called {{lang|scn|[[Frutta martorana]]}}. The {{lang|scn|pupi di zucchero}}, thought{{by whom|date=October 2025}} to be an [[Arabic]] cultural import, are often found in the shapes of folkloric characters who represent humanized versions of the souls of the dead. Eating the sugar dolls reflects the idea of the individual absorbing the dead and, in doing so, bringing the dead back to life within themselves on November 2.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} After gifts are shared and breakfast is enjoyed, the whole family will often visit the cemetery or burial site bearing flowers. They will light candles and play amongst the graves to thank the deceased for the gifts, before enjoying a hearty feast. The tradition holds that the spirits of the deceased will remain with the family to enjoy a day of feasting and merriment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scent-of-sicily.com/news/the-sicilian-way-to-remember-their-loved-ones/ |title=Festa Dei Morti: The Sicilian Way to Remember Their Loved Ones |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=Scent of Sicily |language=en-US |archive-date=November 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102235323/https://www.scent-of-sicily.com/news/the-sicilian-way-to-remember-their-loved-ones/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sicilian author [[Andrea Camilleri]] recounts his {{lang|scn|Giorno dei Morti}} experience as boy, as well as the negative cultural impact that WWII era American influence had on the long-held tradition:<ref>{{cite web |last=Ur |first=Francesca |date=21 November 2021 |title=Andrea Camilleri ci Racconta: "Il Giorno Dei Morti in Sicilia" |url=https://www.sicilytourist.com/blog/?andrea-camilleri-ci-racconta---il-giorno-dei-morti-in-sicilia- |trans-title=<!-- The website has a built-in Google Translate feature, but this quote is using another translation. --> |website=sicilytourist.com |language=it |location= |publisher= |access-date=4 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104193247/http://www.sicilytourist.com/blog/?andrea-camilleri-ci-racconta---il-giorno-dei-morti-in-sicilia- |archive-date=4 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{blockquote|text={{om}}Every Sicilian house where there was a little boy was populated with dead familiar to him. Not ghosts with white linzòlo and with the scrunch of chains, mind you, not those that are frightening, but such and as they were seen in the photographs exhibited in the living room, worn, the occasional half smile printed on the face, the good ironed dress in a workmanlike manner, they made no difference with the living. We Nicareddri, before going to bed, put a wicker basket under the bed (the size varied according to the money there was in the family) that at night the dear dead would fill with sweets and gifts that we would find on the 2nd morning upon awakening.{{om}}After a restless sleep we woke up at dawn to go hunting. Because the dead wanted to play with us, to give us fun, and therefore they didn't put the basket back where they had found it, but went to hide it carefully, we had to look for it{{om}}The toys were tin trains, wooden toy cars, rag dolls, wooden cubes that formed landscapes{{om}}On November 2nd we returned the visit that the dead had paid us the day before: it was not a ritual, but an affectionate custom. Then, in 1943, with the American soldiers the Christmas tree arrived and slowly, year after year, the dead lost their way to the houses where they were waiting for them, happy and awake until the end, the children or the children of the children{{om}}Pity. We had lost the possibility of touching, materially, that thread that binds our personal history to that of those who had preceded us{{om}}
|multiline=yes
|author=[[Andrea Camilleri]]
|title=English translation of ''The Day That The Dead Lost Their Way Home''{{Whose translation|date=October 2025}}}}

Food plays an important part of Italy's day of the dead tradition, with various regional treats being used as offerings to the dead on their journey to the afterlife. In [[Tuscany]] and [[Milan]] the {{lang|it|pane dei morti}} or "bread of the dead" is said to be the characteristic offering. In northern [[Apulia]], a wheat growing region, a sweet dish for the Day of the Dead is {{lang|it|Colva}} or "Grains of the Dead".{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} {{lang|it|Fave dei morti}} or "fava beans of the dead" is another dish for the day found widespread through Italy.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}} {{lang|it|Ossa dei morti}}, suitably elongated and frosted "bones of the dead" are sweets found in Apulia and Sicily. In Sicily, families enjoy special day of the dead cakes and cookies that are made into symbolic shapes such as skulls and finger bones. The "sweets of the dead" are a marzipan treats called {{lang|scn|frutta martorana}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Monaco |first=Eleonora |url=https://www.visititaly.eu/food-and-flavours/the-frutta-martorana-the-typical-sicilian-dessert-for-all-souls--day |title=The Frutta Martorana, the Typical Sicilian Dessert for All Souls' day |access-date=November 2, 2022 |website=Visit Italy |language=en-US |archive-date=November 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102235330/https://www.visititaly.eu/food-and-flavours/the-frutta-martorana-the-typical-sicilian-dessert-for-all-souls--day |url-status=live}}</ref> On the night of November 1, Sicilian parents and grandparents traditionally buy Frutta di Martorana to gift to children on November 2.

In addition to visiting their own family members, some people pay respects to those without a family. Some Italians take it upon themselves to adopt centuries-old unclaimed bodies and give them offerings like money or jewelry as a way to ease their pain and ask for favors.<ref name="nationalgeographic.com"/>

===Asia and Oceania===
[[File:FilAm Ofrenda.jpg|thumb|upright|A ofrenda in a [[Filipino American]] household.]]
Mexican-style Day of the Dead celebrations occur in major cities in [[Australia]], [[Fiji]], and [[Indonesia]], most organized by Mexican communities. Additionally, an independent annual celebration is held in [[Wellington]], New Zealand, complete with altars celebrating the deceased with flowers and gifts.<ref>{{cite press release |author=Wellington Zapatista Support Group |date=27 October 2007 |title=Mexican "Día de Los Muertos"/The Day of the Dead |url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0710/S00273.htm |location= |publisher=[[Scoop (website)|Scoop]] |agency= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604023301/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0710/S00273.htm |archive-date=June 4, 2009 |access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref>

====Philippines====
In the Philippines {{lang|tl|Undás}} and {{lang|tl|Araw ng mga Yumao}}, [[All Saints' Day]] and [[All Souls' Day]], are celebrated following with the Catholic tradition. Filipinos traditionally observe these days by visiting the family dead to clean and repair their tombs, just as is done in Mexico. Offerings of prayers, flowers, candles, and food, while [[Chinese Filipinos]] additionally burn [[joss stick]]s and [[joss paper]] ({{lang|tl|kim}}). Many also spend the day and ensuing night holding reunions at the cemetery, having feasts and merriment.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2010/nov/01/all-saints-day |title=All Saints Day Around the World |work=[[The Guardian Weekly]] |date=November 1, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029191718/https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2010/nov/01/all-saints-day |archive-date=October 29, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Due the cultural connections of the [[Philippines]] and [[Mexico]] with links going back to the [[Spanish Empire]], they share some of the aspects of the practices done in the celebration.<ref>{{cite news |last=De Pacina |first=Michelle |date=1 November 2022 |title=Millions of Filipinos Visit Cemeteries for All Saints' Day |url=https://www.yahoo.com/video/millions-filipinos-visit-cemeteries-saints-214117809.html |work=NextShark |location=United States |access-date=22 September 2023 |via=Yahoo! |quote=The Philippines, which is a predominantly Catholic nation, is considered the second country after Mexico with the most people to celebrate the Day of the Dead. |archive-date=October 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020082820/https://www.yahoo.com/video/millions-filipinos-visit-cemeteries-saints-214117809.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Similar or related festivities==
{{see also|All Souls' Day}}

===Americas===
====Belize====
In [[Belize]], Day of the Dead is practiced by people of the [[Yucatec Maya]] ethnicity. The celebration is known as {{lang|yua|Hanal Pixan}} which means 'food for the souls' in their language. Altars are constructed and decorated with food, drinks, candies, and candles put on them.

====Bolivia====
''<span lang="es" dir="ltr">Día de las Ñatitas</span>'' ("Day of the Skulls") is a festival celebrated in [[La Paz]], [[Bolivia]], at the beginning of November after the celebrations of All Saints. In [[pre-Columbian]] times indigenous Andeans had a tradition of sharing a day with the bones of their ancestors on the third year after burial. Today families keep only the skulls for such rituals, known as [[Ñatita|ñatitas]]. Traditionally, the skulls of family members are kept at home to watch over the family and protect them during the year. On November 9, the family crowns the skulls with fresh flowers, sometimes also dressing them in various garments, and making offerings of cigarettes, coca leaves, alcohol, and various other items in thanks for the year's protection. The skulls are also sometimes taken to the central cemetery in La Paz for a special Mass and blessing.<ref>{{cite news |last=Guidi |first=Ruxandra |title=Las Natitas |publisher=BBC |date=November 9, 2007 |url=http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/13922&answer=true |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206010457/http://www.theworld.org/?q=node%2F13922&answer=true |archive-date=December 6, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Smith | first = Fiona | title = Bolivians Honor Skull-Toting Tradition | agency = Associated Press | date = November 8, 2005 | url = http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bolivia/skulls.htm |access-date= December 30, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080218053817/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bolivia/skulls.htm | archive-date = February 18, 2008 | url-status=live | df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher = Bolivia Line (May 2005) | title = All Saints day in Bolivia&nbsp;– "The skull festival" |access-date= December 20, 2007 | url = http://www.bolivialine.com/bolivia/newsletter/Newsletter200511.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081023143422/http://www.bolivialine.com/bolivia/newsletter/Newsletter200511.htm | archive-date = October 23, 2008 | url-status=dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

====Brazil====
The [[Brazil]]ian public holiday of ''Dia de Finados'', ''Dia dos Mortos'' or ''Dia dos Fiéis Defuntos'' (Portuguese: "Day of the Dead" or "Day of the Faithful Deceased") is celebrated on November 2. Similar to other Day of the Dead celebrations, people go to cemeteries and churches with flowers and candles and offer [[prayer]]s. The celebration is intended as a positive honoring of the dead. Memorializing the dead draws from indigenous and European Catholic origins.

====Costa Rica====
Costa Rica celebrates Día De Los Muertos on November 2. The day is also called ''Día de Todos Santos'' ([[All Saints Day]]) and ''Día de Todos Almas'' ([[All Souls' Day]]). Catholic masses are celebrated and people visit their loved ones' graves to decorate them with flowers and candles.<ref>[http://www.outwardboundcostarica.org/all-saints-day-dia-de-los-muertos/ Costa Rica Celebrates The Day of the Dead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023201446/http://outwardboundcostarica.org/all-saints-day-dia-de-los-muertos/ |date=October 23, 2021 }} Outward Bound Costa Rica, 2012-11-01.</ref>

====Ecuador====
In [[Ecuador]] the Day of the Dead is observed to some extent by all parts of society, though it is especially important to the indigenous [[Kichwa]] peoples, who make up an estimated quarter of the population. ''Indigena'' families gather together in the community cemetery with offerings of food for a day-long remembrance of their ancestors and lost loved ones. Ceremonial foods include ''[[colada morada]]'', a spiced fruit porridge that derives its deep purple color from the [[Rubus|Andean blackberry]] and purple maize. This is typically consumed with ''[[T'anta wawa|guaguas de pan]]'', bread shaped like infants (or, more generally, people), though variations include many pigs—the latter being traditional to the city of [[Loja, Ecuador|Loja]]. The bread, which is wheat flour-based today, but was made with [[masa]] in the [[Pre-Columbian era]], can be made savory with cheese inside or sweet with a filling of [[guava paste]]. These traditions have permeated mainstream society, as well, where food establishments add both ''colada morada'' and ''guaguas de pan'' to their menus for the season. Many non-indigenous Ecuadorians visit the graves of the deceased, cleaning and bringing flowers, or preparing the traditional foods, too.<ref>{{cite web |first=Gonzalo |last=Ortiz |url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53407 |title=Diversity in Remembering the Dead |publisher=InterPress Service News Agency |date=October 30, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104043236/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53407 |archive-date=November 4, 2010}}</ref>

====Guatemala====
[[Guatemala]]n celebrations of the Day of the Dead, on November 1, are highlighted by the construction and flying of giant kites.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Betsy |last1=Burlingame |first2=Joshua |last2=Wood |url=http://www.expatexchange.com/lib.cfm?networkID=159&articleID=1793 |title=Visit to cemetery in Guatemala |publisher=Expatexchange.com |access-date=August 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014090440/http://expatexchange.com/lib.cfm?networkID=159&articleID=1793 |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref> It is customary to fly kites to help the spirits find their way back to Earth. A few kites have notes for the dead attached to the strings of the kites. The kites are used as a kind of telecommunication to heaven.<ref name=":1" /> A big event also is the consumption of ''[[fiambre]]'', which is made only for this day during the year.<ref name=":1" />  In addition to the traditional visits to grave sites of ancestors, the tombs and graves are decorated with flowers, candles, and food for the dead. In a few towns, Guatemalans repair and repaint the cemetery with vibrant colors to bring the cemetery to life. They fix things that have gotten damaged over the years or just simply need a touch-up, such as wooden grave cross markers. They also lay flower wreaths on the graves. Some families have picnics in the cemetery.<ref name=":1" />

==== Honduras ====
In Honduras, November 2nd is widely commemorated as the Day of the Dead, a date on which a special mass is celebrated and families visit cemeteries, decorate [[Grave|graves]], and bring flowers, candles, or other objects for their deceased loved ones Some Honduran traditions state that relatives clean and adorn graves, clean cemeteries, and bring wreaths or arrangements.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Día de los difuntos: tradición hondureña para honrar a los seres queridos que ya partieron |url=https://blogs.unah.edu.hn/dircom/dia-de-los-difuntos-tradicion-hondurena-para-honrar-a-los-seres-queridos-que-ya-partieron/ |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=blogs.unah.edu.hn |language=es}}</ref> This celebration in the Honduran context is more focused in cemeteries than homes. In some regions of the country during November 1st, white flowers are placed especially for deceased children, as a sign of the purity of their souls.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Padilla |first=Emy |date=2015-11-02 |title=Celebración de día de los muertos en Honduras tiene diversos matices |url=https://criterio.hn/celebracion-de-dia-de-los-muertos-en-honduras-tiene-diversos-matices/ |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=Criterio.hn |language=es}}</ref> In some cases, music or entertainment is brought to the cemetery as part of the collective or communal visit. Similar to other contexts, these customs have a strong Christian-Catholic component combined with popular elements that may have local pre-Columbian roots.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Digital |first=Proceso |date=2025-11-02 |title=Honduras: Honrar a los difuntos, un acto de cultura, tradición y herencia |url=https://proceso.hn/honduras-honrar-a-los-difuntos-un-acto-de-cultura-tradicion-y-herencia/ |access-date=2025-11-06 |website=Proceso Digital |language=es}}</ref>

====Peru====
It is common for Peruvians to visit the cemetery, play music and bring flowers to decorate the graves of dead relatives.<ref name="Peru">{{cite news|title=Perú: así se vivió Día de todos los santos en cementerios de Lima|url=https://peru.com/actualidad/mi-ciudad/peru-asi-se-vivio-dia-todos-santos-cementerios-lima-noticia-481961-1523142|access-date=October 30, 2017|work=Peru|publisher=peru.com|date=January 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107021843/https://peru.com/actualidad/mi-ciudad/peru-asi-se-vivio-dia-todos-santos-cementerios-lima-noticia-481961-1523142|archive-date=November 7, 2017|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

===Europe===

====Southern Italy====
=====Sicily=====
A traditional biscotti-type cookie, ''ossa di morto'' or ''bones of the dead'' are made and placed in shoes once worn by dead relatives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bones of the Dead Cookies - Ossa Di Morto |url=https://www.savoringitaly.com/bones-of-dead-cookies-ossa-di-morto/ |website=Savoring Italy |date=October 24, 2019 |access-date=2 November 2021 |archive-date=November 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102222052/https://www.savoringitaly.com/bones-of-dead-cookies-ossa-di-morto/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=====Sardinia=====
In some parts of [[Sardinia]], a holiday called "Prugadoriu" is celebrated, which is kind of a mix of [[Halloween]] and Day of the Dead{{cn|date=November 2025}}

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Bon (festival)|Bon Festival]]
* {{anl|Danse Macabre}}
* {{anl|Dziady}}
* {{anl|Literary Calavera}}
* {{anl|Pitru Paksha}}
* {{anl|Qingming Festival}}
* {{anl|Shab-e-Barat}}
* {{anl|Skull art}}
* {{anl|Thursday of the Dead}}
* {{anl|Veneration of the dead}}
{{div col end}}

{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Day of the Dead}}
* Andrade, Mary J. ''Day of the Dead A Passion for Life&nbsp;– Día de los Muertos Pasión por la Vida''. La Oferta Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-9791624-04}}
* Anguiano, Mariana, et al. ''Las tradiciones de Día de Muertos en México''. Mexico City 1987.
* {{cite journal |last=Brandes |first=Stanley |title=Sugar, Colonialism, and Death: On the Origins of Mexico's Day of the Dead |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |volume=39 |number=2 |pages=270–299 |year=1997 |s2cid=145402658 |doi=10.1017/S0010417500020624}}
* {{cite journal |last=Brandes |first=Stanley |title=The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume=111 |issue=442 |pages=359–380 |year=1998 |jstor=541045 |doi=10.2307/541045}}
* {{cite journal |last=Brandes |first=Stanley |title=Iconography in Mexico's Day of the Dead |url=http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2tt3663j |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=45 |number=2 |pages=181–218 |year=1998 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |jstor=483058 |doi=10.2307/483058}}
* {{cite book |last=Brandes |first=Stanley |title=Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlyTyVbhBYUC |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2006 |page=232 |isbn=978-1-4051-5247-1}}
* Cadafalch, Antoni. ''The Day of the Dead''. Korero Books, 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-907621-01-7}}
* Carmichael, Elizabeth; Sayer, Chloe. ''The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico''. Great Britain: The Bath Press, 1991. {{ISBN|0-7141-2503-2}}
* {{cite journal |last=Conklin |first=Paul |title=Death Takes a Holiday |journal=U.S. Catholic |volume=66 |pages=38–41 |year=2001}}
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2005). "Calaveras". In Ilan Stavans, ed.-in-chief, and Harold Augenbraum, assoc. ed., ''Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States''. Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 4 vols.: I: 248 – 249. 
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2005). "Posada, José Guadalupe". In Ilan Stavans, ed.-in-chief, and Harold Augenbraum, assoc. ed., ''Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States''. Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 4 vols.: II: 258 – 259.
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2019). "Is Day of the Dead More Indigenous or Catholic? Friars Durán and Sahagún vs. Wikipedia". ''Glasstire'', October 31. 
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2019). "José Guadalupe Posada and Diego Rivera Fashion Catrina: From Sellout To National Icon (and Back Again?)". ''Glasstire'', November 2.
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2019). "A Guide to Day of the Dead in Mexico City". ''Glasstire'', November 2. 
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2019). ''The Day of the Dead in Art''. San Antonio, TX: City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture, Centro de Artes. https://www.getcreativesanantonio.com/Portals/3/Files/DOD_CATALGOGUE_digital.pdf
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2020). "A Brief History of Day of the Dead". ''San Antonio Report'', November 1,
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2020). "Catrina Mania!". ''Glasstire'', November 2.
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2021). "Catrina Mania III". ''Glasstire'', November 1.
* Cordova, Ruben C. (2022). "Catrina Mania IV: Brandon Maldonado's Catrinas". ''Glasstire'', October 30.
* {{cite journal |last=Garcia-Rivera |first=Alex |title=Death Takes a Holiday |journal=U.S. Catholic |volume=62 |page=50 |year=1997}}
*Greenleigh, John; Rosalind Rosoff Beimler. ''Days of the Dead / Los Días de Muertos''. San Francisco CA: Pomegranate 1998 {{ISBN|0764906194}}
* Haley, Shawn D.; Fukuda, Curt. ''Day of the Dead: When Two Worlds Meet in Oaxaca''. Berhahn Books, 2004. {{ISBN|1-84545-083-3}}
* Lane, Sarah and Marilyn Turkovich, ''Días de los Muertos/Days of the Dead''. Chicago 1987.
* Lomnitz, Claudio. ''Death and the Idea of Mexico''. Zone Books, 2005. {{ISBN|1-890951-53-6}}
* Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, et al. "Miccahuitl: El culto a la muerte", special issue of ''Artes de México'' 145 (1971)
* Nutini, Hugo G. ''Todos Santos in Rural Tlaxcala: A Syncretic, Expressive, and Symbolic Analysis of the Cult of the Dead''. Princeton 1988.
* Oliver Vega, Beatriz, et al. ''The Days of the Dead, a Mexican Tradition''. Mexico City 1988.
* {{cite journal |last=Roy |first=Ann |title=A Crack Between the Worlds |journal=Commonwealth |volume=122 |pages=13–16 |year=1995}}

{{Allhallowtide}}
{{Halloween}}
{{Ghosts}}
{{Public holidays in Mexico}}
{{UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity}}

[[Category:Day of the Dead| ]]
[[Category:Allhallowtide]]
[[Category:Religious festivals in Mexico]]
[[Category:Religious holidays]]
[[Category:Culture of Mexico]]
[[Category:Mexican-American culture]]
[[Category:Culture of Latin America]]
[[Category:Mexican folklore]]
[[Category:Latin American folklore]]
[[Category:October observances]]
[[Category:November observances]]
[[Category:Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]]
[[Category:Observances honoring the dead]]
[[Category:Folk festivals in Mexico]]
[[Category:Parades in Mexico]]
[[Category:Autumn in Mexico]]
[[Category:Festivals in El Salvador]]