Día de Muertos
Next: November 2, 2026
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The story
Where it comes from
Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is Mexico's festival for welcoming home the souls of loved ones who have died. It grew from the rites of Mexico's Indigenous peoples, and after the Spanish conquest it came to be held alongside the Catholic feasts of All Saints and All Souls. In popular custom across much of Mexico, 1 November is for children who have died and 2 November for adults. UNESCO proclaimed the Indigenous festivity part of humanity's intangible heritage in 2003 and inscribed it on its list in 2008.
How it's celebrated
Families build an ofrenda, a home altar, with photographs, candles, papel picado (cut-paper banners), pan de muerto and the favourite food and drink of the person being remembered. Orange cempasúchil marigolds fill the altar, and petals, candles and offerings mark the path from the cemetery to the house so the souls can find their way home. Families gather at the graves too, with flowers, candles and food. The mood is warm: a reunion, not a fright.
Did you know
- The round pan de muerto is decorated with dough shaped like a skull and four crossed bones.
- La Catrina, the elegant skeleton lady, began as the Calavera Garbancera drawn by the cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada and was made famous by the painter Diego Rivera.
- In the Philippines, families also spend 1 and 2 November, known together as Undas, at the graves of loved ones with candles, flowers and shared meals.
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