Día de Muertos

el Día de Muertos

The first days of November, when families build an altar for their dead, spend a night in the cemetery, and nobody is sad: the dead are back for a visit.

In this topic

Celebrated across Mexico; the piece is set in Oaxaca, and UNESCO lists it as a festivity of Mexico's indigenous communities. Details of the altar, the days and the cemetery vigil vary by region and community.

What goes on the altar

Light and flowers

el cempasúchil orange marigolds — From the Nahuatl word for the marigold, "twenty flowers".
la vela a candle

Food for the visitors

el pan de muerto a sweet round bread with bone shapes on top
la calavera de azúcar a sugar skull, often with a name on the forehead
el plato favorito the dead person's favourite dish — In the piece, grandfather's mole.
tortillas y tamales corn tortillas and tamales — UNESCO names them among Day of the Dead offerings.

Memory and craft

la foto a photo of the person
el papel picado paper cut-outs — UNESCO lists "typical handicrafts, such as paper cut-outs".

The path home

los pétalos petals, candles and offerings laid from the cemetery to the house — So the souls find their way, as UNESCO describes it.

A home altar holds flowers, candles and photos; the flowers are orange cempasúchil, and there is pan de muerto and sugar skulls.
Families lay flower petals, candles and offerings along the path from the cemetery to their homes, and set the favourite dishes of the dead around the home shrine and the tomb, with flowers and handicrafts such as paper cut-outs.

En la casa hay un altar con flores, velas y fotos.

In the house there is an altar with flowers, candles and photos.

También hay pan de muerto y calaveras de azúcar.

There is also pan de muerto and sugar skulls.

The night in the cemetery

what: Families go to the cemetery at night. Children carry candles and sing; there is music, and people eat and talk by the graves.
when: In Oaxaca the festival lasts two days: the first of November for the children who died, los angelitos, and the second for the adults. UNESCO places the festivities between late October and early November.
where: At home, around the altar, and in the cemetery. The piece is set in Oaxaca.
who: Families, and in UNESCO's listing the indigenous communities of Mexico in particular.
why: The dead come back for a visit. The mood is a welcome more than a mourning: families remember their dead with food, music and stories.

In Oaxaca the festival lasts two days: 1 November for the children and 2 November for the adults.
At night the family goes to the cemetery; children carry candles and sing, there is music, and people eat and talk.
The dead are grouped by cause of death, age, sex and sometimes profession, and each group has its own day of worship; the groups and days differ by community.

Por la noche, la familia va al cementerio.

At night, the family goes to the cemetery.

El primero de noviembre es para los niños y el dos para los adultos.

The first of November is for the children and the second for the adults.

What UNESCO recognised

UNESCO lists the celebration as the "Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead": proclaimed in 2003 and inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The listing describes a fusion of pre-Hispanic religious rites and Catholic feasts, timed to the end of the annual maize cycle, and a belief that the dead can bring prosperity or misfortune depending on how well the rituals are carried out.

UNESCO inscribed the "Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead" (Mexico) on the Representative List in 2008; the list it belongs to was originally proclaimed in 2003.
The festivity combines pre-Hispanic religious rites with Catholic feasts, and coincides with the end of the annual maize cultivation cycle.
In the belief UNESCO describes, the dead can bring prosperity (such as an abundant maize harvest) or misfortune (illness, accidents, financial trouble) depending on how well the rituals are performed.

La UNESCO declara la fiesta Patrimonio de la Humanidad en 2008.

UNESCO declared the festival a World Heritage tradition in 2008.

Words for the days

los muertos: the dead
el altar: the altar
el cementerio: the cemetery
recordar a alguien: to remember someone
los angelitos: the children who died, remembered on 1 November

Las familias recuerdan a sus muertos con alegría.

Families remember their dead with joy.

Nadie está triste: los muertos vuelven de visita.

Nobody is sad: the dead come back for a visit.

Words to know

la ofrenda: the offering, the altar with its gifts
el altar: the altar
el cempasúchil: the orange marigold
la calavera de azúcar: the sugar skull
el pan de muerto: the sweet bread of the dead
la vela: the candle
el cementerio: the cemetery
los angelitos: the little angels: children who died

Hear it