Day of the Dead

If you’d like to participate in Dia de los Muertos ceremonies, there are several villages in Mexico with colorful celebrations worth attending. Most are in the Central Pacfic Coast states of Guerrero, Michoacan & Jalisco.

This festival honors the lives of dear departed ones with rich cultural traditions.  Planes full of tourists attend annually. This year, airfares to the best festival destinations are between $200 and $400 rountrip from the U.S.

“Dia de los Muertos” is a holiday celebrated primarily in Mexico but also in Hispanic and African communities worldwide. Families honor memories of their departed with music, costumes, festively decorated sugar skulls, and altars to the dead with many candles. Families visit graves to leave the favorite foods and drinks of their departed. Loved ones are celebrated with stories, feasts, dancing, iconic skeletons, and always with good humor.

These ceremonies date back thousands of years and began as a celebration of death as a voyage to a higher plane by the pre-Hispanic Olmecs & Zapotecs. The Aztecs celebrated for an entire month, honoring their goddess of death. The modern celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, fusing the pre-Hispanic celebration with two Catholic holidays – All Saint’s Day & All Souls’ Day. In Brazil it’s a public holiday and Spain holds parades and festivals.

Send a note for recommendations on the best festivals.  Even you don’t attend, remember the ancestors who influenced your life!