Day of the Dead: How to get to one of the most colorful holidays in the world.

The Day of the Dead is one of the key cultural phenomena of Mexico and some neighboring regions. This holiday has been celebrated for over three thousand years and has its roots in Aztec and Mayan traditions and beliefs. Since 2003, it has been included in the UNESCO list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Dia de los Muertos lasts four days from late October to early November. The holiday of ancestral veneration is celebrated in all regions of Mexico, but you can really feel its authenticity only in provincial towns where the Day of the Dead has not become a tourist show.

The tradition of honoring dead ancestors in South America was established by the Mayans and Aztecs: they brought gifts to the goddess Mictlancihuatl, who was depicted as a woman with a skull instead of a head (and sometimes in the form of a skeleton), dressed in a skirt of rattlesnakes.
- inhabitants of the upper and lower worlds (the world of the living and the world of the dead). The image of Mictlancihuatl is reproduced today by the participants of carnivals on the Day of the Dead. The Aztecs and Mayans covered the walls of buildings with skulls - tzompantli - and today skull decorations and treats are an integral part of the Day of the Dead celebrations.
Each day of Dia de los Muertos has a different semantic emphasis:
October 31 - Halloween Eve, All Hallows Eve - brings the Mexican holiday closer to the Western tradition of celebrating Halloween, even though they are historically two different holidays. Halloween comes from the pagan Celtic tradition, Day of the Dead from the Aztec tradition. Halloween has a more sinister, darker meaning, while the Mexican Day of the Dead, despite all the scary paraphernalia, is quite a light and joyous holiday. In Mexico it is believed that on this night the gates between the worlds of the living and the dead are opened so that the souls of ancestors can visit their relatives. On this night people (children, first of all) in carnival outfits go door to door and ask for treats.
November 1 - Day of the Innocents, Día de los Inocentes - dedicated to the souls of those who died in childhood or infancy.
November 2 is the main official Day of the Dead. A day of reunion with the souls of ancestors, honoring all departed family members.
November 2 is the official Day of the Dead, also known as All Souls Day.

For the Day of the Dead, altars - “ofrendas” - decorated with candles, flowers and food (private altars are decorated with dishes and foods that were especially loved by the deceased of that family) appear near private homes and public institutions (museums, schools, cemeteries, even hotels and hostels).
Carnival processions take place in the main streets, which travelers can join. Women do elaborate makeup imitating a skull, wear lush wreaths of flowers and long dresses with layered skirts. The colors of the holiday, in addition to black, are yellow and orange as symbols of sun, light and life itself; pink as a symbol of happiness and celebration; and white as the color of purity and hope.
The ubiquitous tourist business offers a lot of ready-made disposable costumes for the Day of the Dead, but they look very alien and artificial.
If you want to truly live this unusual cultural experience, better make your own unique costume or limit yourself to accessories.

Otherwise, clothing for exploring Mexico should be light and comfortable, designed for hot weather and well protected from the sun. But keep in mind that in early November, the region's rainy season ends, the weather is changeable, and evenings can be chilly.

What else to do when traveling to Mexico for the Day of the Dead?

Get inspired by the bright and juicy aesthetics of death as a holiday at a special exhibit at the Dolores Olmedo Museum
Not only does it house a collection of Frida Kahlo's work, but each year an altar is set up for the Day of the Dead, which can claim to be an object of contemporary art.

Learn to tell the difference between mescal and tequilaMescal is an authentic Mexican agave drink that many people confuse with the more globally hyped tequila. To understand the difference, we recommend not just tasting mescal in a Mexico City bar, but traveling to a mescaleria in picturesque colonial Oaxaca to see how the drink is made and listen to its history.Watch the artisans at work
In the same town of Oaxaca it is worth visiting the workshop where they make alebrije toys - traditional crafts made of wood or papier-mâché in the form of bizarre animals and fairy-tale creatures. Oaxaca also creates authentic shawls and blankets.

Ride trachineras
Trachineras are Mexican gondolas topped by arches with colorful patterns. They run along the canals in the colorful Sochimilco neighborhood in Mexico City.

Sample authentic Mexican cuisine and Day of the Dead specialties
Fajitos and tacos, quesadillas and burritos are best enjoyed in their homeland. For connoisseurs of haute cuisine, we'll show you two of the top twenty restaurants in the world (and one of the top 20 bars in the world). And on the Day of the Dead in Mexico they prepare special festive drinks and appetizers. For example, pan de muerto - “bread of death” - sugar skulls, atole - a hot soft drink made of corn, cinnamon and vanilla (there is also a chocolate variety).

How to see the authentic Day of the Dead and the most important sights of Mexico?When traveling to Mexico for Day of the Dead, we aim to focus specifically on the flavor and traditions of this undeniably distinctive and memorable holiday. go beyond the tourist show and immerse yourself in the authenticity of the Day of the Dead in the province. We were able to build a two-week itinerary to touch the traditions, see the key sights, devote time to beach vacations while minimizing long tedious transfers.We start in the capital: in Mexico City we visit the national museum Museo Nacional de Antropología, where a local guide tells us about the history of the country and the region. We admire the magnificent neoclassical Chapultepec Palace, built in the XVIII century at an altitude of more than 2300 meters above sea level.We stroll through the historic center of Mexico City.

The next day, at dawn, fly over the Teotihuacan pyramids in a hot air balloon and then explore the pyramids themselves - the ruins of an ancient city-state of the Mayan civilization, whose name translates as “the place where the gods were born”.We move to Morelia and travel through the picturesque villages around the lake.It is there that you can get acquainted with genuine, authentic traditions of celebrating the Day of the Dead: together with the locals we will visit the cemetery, commemorate ancestors, marvel at the skillful altars and even visit the locals to share the holiday with them - this is the custom here. And also in the streets of small villages you can see a curious sight: callejoneada - a procession of men in traditional costumes playing stringed musical instruments, which lasts about an hour and a half and perfectly creates a Mexican mood.

Then we will go to Guadalajara, a city founded in the 16th century, called the “Pearl of the West” and a beautiful open-air museum of colonial architecture. During the celebration of the Day of the Dead you should definitely visit the Calaverandia theme park, dedicated to this holiday: huge figures in the form of merry dead people, light installations, photo zones and attractions are waiting for you here.

Next we move on to a town with a promising name Tequila: we will definitely visit the tequila production and tasting.

The next day is for beach vacation: we will spend it in the resort of Puerto Vallarta with turquoise ocean water and snow-white sand. You can just relax with a glass of margarita, or you can go on a sea excursion, go fishing, snorkeling or diving.

After a break, we fly to Palenque: we are waiting for the ruins of the ancient Mayan city, which is older than the famous Machu Picchu (and is not inferior to it in complexity and beauty of infrastructure). However, not only ancient civilizations, but also nature here impresses with the greatness of its design: we will convince ourselves of its power at the Roberto Barrios waterfalls. And in the vicinity of Mérida (the next destination) we will see a unique natural phenomenon - cenotes. These are karst cavities, a ceilingless cave flooded with water and overgrown with lush greenery.

In Mayan culture cenotes were not only sources of water, but also ritual objects, “gates to the kingdom of the dead” - how to miss such a location, celebrating the Day of the Dead in Mexico? Moreover, the cenotes are incredibly picturesque and photogenic.

From Mérida we move to Chichen Itza - another must see location in Mexico, the “well of the Maya”. This is one of the most restored cities of the ancient civilization, which presents the most characteristic features of Mayan architecture and urban planning. We will see the Temple of Kukulkan, Caracol Observatory, skillful bas-reliefs and statues, and other sights.

Then Cancun awaits us: there is still a whole day of beach vacation before the end of the trip - to relax, bask in the sun and let the numerous impressions settle down. We end the trip with a grand party at the chic Rosa Negra restaurant, where every dinner turns into a show.

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