Celebrating with the dead - 15th November 2023

The streets of Mexico City came alive with the annual Day of the Dead parade. The festival, which is one of the biggest in Latin America, takes place at the beginning of November – at the same time as the Christian All Souls celebration.

People fill the streets to attend the colourful parades and spend time at the graves of their dead relatives.

Festivalgoer: "The closeness between our souls, the closeness to our dead, more than mourning them is to celebrate, so we’re happy."

Many experts believe this lively festival has Christian origins. However, others claim it’s based on ancient Aztec rituals. It could predate Spanish colonial culture or be a modern attempt to reconnect with Aztec traditions. For festivalgoers, its origins aren’t what’s important. It’s that the celebrations are still getting better with time.

Festivalgoer: "It is a tradition that we have had for a long time, and I am glad that we have been improving it little by little with different carnivals and parades, it is something that has always been like that."

In 2008, the festival was included in UNESCO's List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As a result, it's grown in popularity and is attracting increasing numbers of tourists. The festival's also appeared in a scene in the James Bond film 'Spectre'.

People create home altars of family photos and leave the favourite foods of dead relatives by their graves. Many also exchange brightly decorated sugar skulls as gifts with family and friends.

Tourists like Sapeer Kadoch find the festival and its wonderful atmosphere heartwarming.

Sapeer Kadoch: "I think it's really beautiful the way that Mexicans celebrate death. I think it's so special and so unique, it's not something that you see anywhere else in the world so it really, it warms my heart."