Day of the Dead

Día de Muertos

(Updated October 8, 2024)

First of all I feel really unqualified to write anything about Día de los Muertos. There are so many celebrations and so many colourful, vivid displays to see it’s really hard to keep up with it all!

The best explanation really is the Disney Coco movie.

Día de Muertos is celebrated across Mexico as families, streetscapes, public areas and museums build their ofrendas and decorate for the season. An ofrenda is an altar to honour the life of loved ones who have died. The ofrenda has four elements: water (water or favourite drinks), earth (food, like bread), wind (the cut-out paper bunting or papel picado), and fire (candles). And there are also photos of loved ones.

Other elements include sugar or chocolate skulls, pan muerto (a bun with nubs like bones on it and covered in sugar), cempasúchil (yellow marigolds that are the biggest marigolds I have ever seen!) which are set out so the yellow petals offer a path for the spirits to find the family’s homes.

Día de los Muertos is not Hallowe’en and is celebrated on November 2nd. In fact our children have it as a day off of school.

We have stayed in Mexico City for the Hallowe’en and Día de los Muertos days and enjoyed parades down Reforma to the Zócalo, ofrendas around the city, and displays of Catrinas (the skeleton lady with the fancy feathered hat). Here are some things we have enjoyed seeing in Mexico City for Día de los Muertos for the last two years and I’ve updated the list for 2024. Dressing up is encouraged and you will often see people getting their makeup and face paint done at impromptu stands on the street.

Parades
I find timeout Mexico is the best place to find out about the events, secreto cdmx and also the Mexican Secretaria de Cultura.

• This year, 2024, Saturday, October 19 the Museo of Popular Arte’s Alebrijes Parade will start at noon on Reforma and go to the Zocalo. Probably around noon. The alebrijes will then be on display on Reforma from Oct 19 to Nov 5.
• New to me is the Zombie Walk, on Oct 19 at 4 p.m. leaving from the Monument of the Revolution towards the Zocalo.
• Sunday, October 27 the Catrina Parade will leave the by the Angel on Reforma and go towards the Zócalo. This parade (as of Oct 8) still isn’t confirmed but usually it’s around 6 p.m.
• Saturday, November 2 in the evening, there will be the Día de Muertos Parade, leaving from Puerta de los Leones (the lion’s gate) at Chapultepec Park at 2 p.m. and going down Reforma to the Zócalo. This is the parade made famous by the James Bond movie, in that there wasn’t a parade like this in CDMX, until after the movie tourists came to town looking for this parade. So now we have one!

Night Events

• October 26 at 7:30 p.m. there is a Nighttime Run for adults and children, it’s a 5k run on Reformat at the corner with Monte Elbruz, going past Calzada Chivatito and ending at Parque Lira. You can sign up for the 2024 run here.
• Six Flags also runs terror nights all of October until Nov 10.
• Last year there was a nighttime bike ride and people dressed up on their bicycles. I currently can’t find anything about when it is.
• In the past there was an evening light display at Chapultepec Park, but I can’t find any information on it for 2024.

Ofrendas
You can find ofrendas in most places around the city. The museums have really nice big ones, there are some in San Angel, in the churches in the centre such as Templo de San Francisco, the Cuidadela craft market had one, and even the shops will have ofrendas. The Ofrenda Monumental will be in the Zócalo from October 27 to November 4.

UNAM will have altars to the cinema on November 1, 2 and3, 11-21h00.

Alebrijes
The alebrijes are absolutely incredibly huge sculptures which look so light and delicate. They are usually very skinny, brightly painted with swirls and dots and are a combination of a couple of animals all put together. They were created by paper mache artist, Pedro Linares, who in 1936 became so ill he had hallucinations of mythical type beasts, such as a frog with a rooster’s head, and the creatures were saying “Alebrije!” When he was well he recreated the figures and they were born into Mexican folk art. (Pepita in Coco is an Alebrije.)

The last year the Catrinas and Alebrijes were on display in the Zócalo for the first week of November and then in MAP (Museo Arte Popular) which has an incredible gift shop as well. We did a nice walk from Bellas Artes, through the Alameda Central Park, to the Zócalo and then back up via MAP to see the sites.

From Oct 19 to Nov 5 the alebrijes will line the streets from the zocalo, to 5 de mayo, to Juarez and up Reforma to the Angel. Walking down Reforma during the day and looking at the alebrijes up close is one of my favourite things to do.

Nov 2 there will be installations in the Zocalo to see, we love going down in the morning.

The big painted skulls “Mexicraneos” will be on display at Bicentenario Park from Oct 12 until January 2025.

Pan de Muerto / Chocolate

There are many pan de muerto and chocolate festivals around the city this year.

• Oct 19 and 20 is the Festival of Coffee, Chocolate and Pan Muerto. It has over 40 exhibitors and will be from 12-19h00, $50 peso entrance fee. Jalapa 44, Roma Norte.
• Oct 26 and 27 Coyoacan has a pan muerto festival also with chocolate and coffee. 11-19h00, free to enter. It’s at the Centro de Convenciones Churubusco (Calzada de Tlalpan 1721, San Diego Churubusco, Coyoacán)

Let me know what else there is not to miss in Mexico City for Día de los Muertos! Frida Kahlo’s museum had a nice ofrenda last year and during the last week of October, on calle Masaryk, all the shops had gorgeous floral displays on which are not to be missed!

This is a great list of things to do (in Spanish).