We flew to México City at the end of October for a couple of weeks, and it was our good luck to be there for El Dia de los Muertos!  What fun we had! In my previous post I shared a few pictures from one of the parades.  In the album below you will see pictures from our day in Coyoacán, our shopping for flowers and candles for our home altar as well as taking Consuelo out for La Noche de los Muertos in Tepoztlán, Morelos.  

It was wonderful to experience this special night with the family – and don’t think it is a Mexican version of Halloween, there are a few similarities, but really it is nothing like it. Noche de Muertos is on Nov. 1, which is Dia de los Inocentes.  This is the day that pets and children who have died are believed to come back to visit.  The children dress up in traditional Mexican clothing, either as historical figures or skeletons. They carry large gourds carved with ghoulish faces and candles inside to light their way as they go door to door.  If a family has lost a loved one in the previous year, they light a big bonfire in the street and have an altar to the person.  A huge fire is lit at the churches for all those lost from the church community. Each household gives the children a piece of candy and sometimes give the adults a cup of pulque (made from fermented agave sap) or atole, which is a hot corn drink. The following day, November 2, is usually spent at the cemetery and is for welcoming back the adults who have passed over. 

Of course, cempasúchil flowers (marigolds) are an important part of the Dia de los Muertos traditions.  You’ll see a lot of them in the pictures, below.  

We truly enjoyed the animated Disney film COCO – that we saw at the Auditorio Nacional. This incredible place was teeming with activity and we were thrilled with the movie and its fun story explaining the traditions of the Day of the Dead.  Really, go see it.  Don’t worry if your Spanish isn’t that good, you will be able to follow along.  I believe it opens in English in the US soon.

I have captioned all the photos in the album below.  I hope you enjoy them!

Day of the Dead 2017 - CDMX & Tepoztlán

Our November 2017 trip to México City to share El Dia de los Muertos with family.

51 Photos