One of the main considerations when planning my fall trip to Mexico City was to experience celebrations of Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). While the actual holiday was the 1st and 2nd of November, most of the big events here occurred the weekend before. I saw people celebrating Halloween here as well, but it was more of a small sideshow to the main event.
Pan de Muerto
A few weeks before the official celebrations, I started seeing pan de muerto (“bread of the dead”) in stores, and people eating it in cafes. There is a traditional style, but also a variety of others with cream inside, chocolate on top, etc.
Maybe the equivalent in the states would be all the pumpkin spice food that you see around Halloween. Which, by the way, I didn’t see nearly as much of in Mexico City, even at places like Starbucks.
El Gran Desfile (Parade)
El Gran Desfile started at the Chapultepec Lion’s Gate at 5 pm and made its way down Reforma and eventually to the Zocalo. We caught an Uber to near the Diana fountain, not long before the parade started, and though things were busy we were still able to find a pretty good spot. If you wanted to have a first-row view you would probably need to get there well in advance.
It was fun walking around both before and after, and we had a nice dinner at Quebracho.
At the Zócalo
On Sunday we went into the city center to see the ofrendas and catrinas. We started with lunch at El Cardenal. Next we had drinks at Balcón del Zócalo, which offered an outstanding view. We weren’t able to get a table near the edge, but were able to walk up to the edge of the balcony with our drinks and take in the scene for a bit.
Down in the square we strolled around for a while and checked out the ofrendas for each state. They definitely varied in the level of effort that had been put into each of them.
Almas Ilumniadas
“Souls Illuminated” (Almas Iluminadas) was a night walk with sculptures and lights at the Chapultepec gate on November 1st and 2nd. There were a lot of people, mostly younger. A band was playing up near the Altar A la Patria.
My Ofrenda
I wanted to participate in an ofrenda for my loved ones somehow, and my original thought was that maybe there would be some public ofrendas where I could light some candles or leave something in remembrance for them. I didn’t see anything that looked appropriate for something like that in the areas I was though.
So I ended up making an ofrenda of my own on a coffee table in my apartment. I printed out a couple of pages of pictures of my mom and my sister, and some cherished dogs who had left us recently. I got some cempasúchil (a Nahuatl word for marigolds) from a flower stand, and some candles, bread, and candy. I thought it turned out pretty well for my first one, and definitely more personal. I imagine most Mexican celebrations are smaller and home-grown like that too.
Overall Impressions
Overall, I enjoyed the Day of the Dead festivities here, and I’m glad I got to experience them. It was all pretty big and grand and busy though. I think I only started to feel the true spirit of it all when I made my own ofrenda.
I’d be interested to see what it’s like in other parts of the country. I hear that Michoacán in particular is a great place to be for the Day of the Dead. I would also like to get a better sense of how individual families celebrate. A friend shared a little with me about how she and her family do it, often in small but heartfelt ways. I think in the future I will try to search out more of those small and intimate observances.