Día de los Muertos!

Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos in Spanish) is a colourful festival honouring the lives of deceased loved ones. It is one of the biggest and most famous festivals in Mexico, celebrated between October 31st and November 2nd. In towns and cities throughout Mexico, revellers don funky make-up and costumes, hold parades and parties, sing and dance, and make offerings to lost loved ones.

 

So .. Where to go? What to see?

Where does the solo female traveller seeking euphoric escapades go to find these colourful Mexican celebrations …?

In many locations across Mexico, festivities begin a good week or two in advance with colourful processions, displays of handicrafts and elaborate flower creations. These revved up celebrations attract visitors from across the globe looking to embrace Mexico’s traditional spirituality and playful attitude towards death.

I arrived on my own on Halloween eve in the hustle and bustle of Mexican rush hour with a backpack and a crumpled bit of paper with the address of my hostel. If it weren’t for this annual celebration I may never have flown here but it was high on my bucket list for years so I was determined to see as much as I possibly could ….

 

 

 

 

 

If you are keen to immerse yourself in Mexico’s indigenous traditions like I was, it is important to plan ahead and choose your location wisely.

You can witness Day of the Dead celebrations pretty much anywhere in Mexico from small towns to big cities, but if you find yourself in Mexico City here’s my pick of the best:

 

1. Visit a Mexican Cemetery.

The customary way to join in with the more local and traditional Day of the Dead celebrations would be to join the crowds at a local market and purchase the biggest, brightest bunch of marigolds (cempazúchitl) that you can find then head down to a cemetery at night.

 

Mexicans visit cemeteries, decorate the graves and spend time there, in the presence of their deceased friends and family members.

 

During my time spent in Mexico at the end of October, I saw an abundance of colourful altars, decorated gravestones and beautiful floral shrines across Mexico city and Mexico’s Riviera Maya along the East Coast.

One of THE most colourful graveyards (outside of Mexico city) was at XCARET park:

Xcaret Park is a very touristy attraction along the highway of Mexico’s East Coast on the Riviera Maya, between Tulum and Playa del Carmen.

If you’re English, you will know what I mean when I describe it as Mexico’s version of Butlins! It is very expensive for a day ticket.

(Around $90. Tip: Befriend a Mexican like I did and meet people on Couchsurfing. I found a discounted ticket through a friend at a hostel in Playa Del Carmen.) 

However, if you go with the right crowd you can certainly have a laugh and gain a (less-authentic) insight into Mexican culture. During the October month they put on a Día de los Muertos show every evening where you can watch an array of dances and acts in a massive amphitheatre.

I LOVED seeing all the colourful and traditional dresses, euphoric threads and textiles from ALL of Mexico’s 31 states:

Anyhow, I really recommend visiting a village or district on the outskirts of Mexico City.

If I could go back and do it all again I would visit Mexico’s state Oaxaca or visit Janitzio on Lake Pátzcuaro!
However, if you find yourself in Mexico City like I did, do some background research into a local cemetery or village you can visit with a bunch of backpackers or locals via Couchsurfing!

I recommend visiting the more authentic pre-hispanic towns.

2. Visit Mixquic

Mixquic, a barrio mágico just outside Mexico City, prides itself on its centuries-old customs during its famous Day of the Dead festivities.

Mixquic is the most genuine Dead Day celebration in the DF-Mexico State.

It claims to be the only place in the capital where the graveyard in the church garden is still in use.

 

The town is pre-Hispanic and stone skulls have been excavated from indigenous homes in the area. In Mixquic, the main event not to miss is the Alumbrada – the illumination of graveyards with thousands of candles. You’ll see houses with stars and crosses on their front doors to guide the souls home, and don’t miss the Hour of Campanera where children ring bells and ask for candy.

I arrived with a group of Couchsurfing explorers. The air literally fills with the scent of incense and “cempasuchil” (flower of the dead). Old and young Mexicans gather by the tombstones eating food and talking peacefully ignoring the hundreds of foreigners walking around them (like us!).

 

We meandered the busy street markets and colourfully decorated town, then stayed for the main celebrations and evening events where hundreds more Mexicans gather at the main church to pay their respects.

 

The main date to visit Mixquic is November the 2nd.

Getting there: It is a little bit challenging if you don’t have a car, it is a long way there, we had to take 2 metros, 1 train and 2 buses. It was crazy 🙁 but it was worth it!

Travel Notes from Couchsurfer Art: Meet in Zapata Station (Light green line), take the subway and then a bus. Aim to arrive at Mixquic midday then discover the place and have some food. At 4 pm the pilgrimage starts to the graveyards and at between 6-7 pm is the moment when the graveyard is totally covered with oil lamps and flowers.

 

 

3. Get lost in the “007” Day of the Dead Parade

The Day of the Dead tradition that normally takes place in private homes or at candle-lit cemetery sites was transformed the year I visited (in 2016) by the James Bond film Spectre. The city government and Mexican tourism officials were inspired by parts of this Bond film, which were filmed in Mexico City and featured 007 chasing a villain through a Day of the Dead celebration in the historical centre.

 

 

The official parade on the Saturday (weekend before Halloween) attracted thousands of people with its full spectacle of skulls and skeletons, oceans of marigolds and catrinas (stylised skeleton costumes depicting high-society figures). It’s extremely over-crowded and hard to really see anything but it is an amusing and colourful euphoric array of fancy dress and oversized carnival floats in celebration of Day of the Dead.

Note: This is a very touristic version of ‘Day of the Dead’ celebrations. Many Mexicans take offence to this sort of parading.

 

4. Xochimilco

Designated a Unesco Word Heritage Site, the placid canals and artificial islands (known as chinampas) of Xochimilco (30 miles from Mexico City) are the last vestiges of an ancient system of farming. Read more here.

Day of the Dead here is a kaleidoscopic extravaganza as local families, resplendent in their traditional dress and visitors navigate the maze of islands on decorated wooden boats called trajineras.

 

You can hire your own boat, complete with a mariachi band, and purchase samples of the season’s culinary offerings from entrepreneurial vendors on passing boats. Around midnight, a more ethereal mood holds sways as locals head to the cemetery of San Gregorio Atlapulco for an all-night candle-lit vigil beside graves carpeted with marigolds.

The main attraction that enticed me to venture south of the city is Xochimilo’s infamous and eery Island of Dolls!

 

I went to Xochimilo with a bunch of Couchsurfers at dusk and hired a boat between the ten of us.

It was SO good!

You have your own private “skipper” and they take you out to THE most CREEPY islands.

The Island of Dolls is apparently dedicated to the lost soul of a poor girl who met her fate too soon in strange circumstances. This small island is home to hundreds of terrifying dolls. Their severed limbs, decapitated heads, and blank eyes adorn trees. Local legend says that the dolls move their heads and arms and even opened their eyes. Some witnesses claim they had heard the dolls whispering to each other, while others who were on a boat near the island said the dolls lured them to come down to the island.

WEIRD! Unfortunately, we missed entrance access to the real deal and instead were taken around replicas of the main haunted Island of Dolls (Still plenty of eery dolls to see!)

 

5. Join the crowds in fancy dress

Let’s face it Mexicans sure know how to party!

Day of the Dead is an extremely social holiday that spills into streets and public squares at all hours of the day and night. Dressing up as skeletons is part of the fun. People of all ages have their faces artfully painted to resemble skulls, and, mimicking the Catrina, they don suits and fancy dresses.

We explored the city centre and main hustle and bustle of the main streets near the Zocola on the night of Halloween and weirdly didn’t witness anything too crazy (in fact was kind of disappointed!!) we ended up in Zona Rosa where all the bars and gay clubs were (great fun, but not as much fancy dress as expected)

Note: Día de los Muertos is not exactly a Mexican version of Halloween…

Halloween is a dark night of terror and mischief, Day of the Dead festivities, however, unfold over two days in an explosion of euphoric colour and joy! 

.. We soon learnt that the main event where locals dress up in in fact November the 1st and 2nd. The main streets were FULL of all sorts of fancy dress and the SCARIEST of characters and costumes, was such an experience. I was chased down the street by a sicko in clown costume though, not so fun...

 

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Other events:

• I heard there was a very large gathering at the Pyramids the weekend after I flew out of Mexico City. Be sure to do your research and mingle with as many locals as possible. I honestly can’t tell you how useful Couchsurfing was. I am a solo female traveller and this was my first proper time I used Couchsurfing to meet large groups of other global travellers and felt more safe travelling around Mexico city with them.
• Day of the Death Offerings in Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) during these days you can enjoy night bike riding events through Reforma Avenue. Or in 2016 there was a big Mexican Skull Parade on the Saturday October 29th.
• Check out Mexico’s Time Out for latest events!! Also Couchsurfing in Mexico City.

Have you been to Mexico City during Day of the Dead?

What are your top 10 places to visit in Mexico during Halloween?

Did I miss something?  I’d love to know!

 ☼

Thank YOU for reading 🙂

 

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