94 Fun Facts About Day of the Dead

Which 1960 Mexican film set on the Day of the Dead was Oscar-nominated?

Macario (1960), directed by Roberto Gavaldón and starring Ignacio López Tarso, opens on the Day of the Dead and became the first Mexican film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

What is the primary purpose of building an 'ofrenda' during Day of the Dead celebrations?

The ofrenda exists to welcome the souls of the departed: families set out the dead's favourite foods, marigolds and photographs so the returning spirits feel invited home on November 1 and 2.

Which bright orange flower decorates Day of the Dead altars, believed to guide spirits with its scent?

The flower's vibrant colour and strong scent are believed to help lead souls from the cemetery back to the family home.

Which sweet bread, topped with bone-shaped dough, is eaten for Day of the Dead?

The name means 'bread of the dead'; the sugar-topped rounds wear twisted dough bones and stand for the cycle of life.

What is the elegantly dressed female skeleton, from a 1910s satirical broadside, that became a symbol of the Day of the Dead?

La Catrina first appeared around 1910–13 in a satirical broadside and has since become an icon of Mexican identity, sometimes set against the Halloween jack-o'-lantern.

On which two main dates is the Day of the Dead traditionally celebrated?

Depending on the locality, festivities may also spill onto October 31 or even November 6.

Which perforated banners represent the element of wind on an ofrenda?

Papel picado, or traditional paper banners, are used to represent the element of wind on altars. Their delicate, perforated designs allow them to flutter with the slightest breeze.

Which of these items is traditionally placed on an altar to quench the thirst of returning spirits?

A glass of water is often placed on the altar for the spirits to quench their thirst after their long journey back to the living world.

What is the fragrant tree resin burned on ofrendas to scare away evil spirits called?

The aromatic resin was burned ceremonially across pre-Columbian Mesoamerica long before it became an altar staple.

What are the decorated sugar or clay skulls, often bearing a person's name, called?

Calaveras, or skulls, are a common symbol of the holiday. They appear in edible sugar forms (calaveras de azúcar), papier-mâché decorations, or hand-painted ceramic creations, sometimes personalized with names.

Which hot, thick masa drink is poured for the living and set on altars for the dead?

Atole, a hot corn drink thickened with masa, takes its name from Nahuatl ātōlli; it is served to mourners and set on altars for returning souls.

The holiday's dates came to coincide with which two Catholic feasts?

All Saints' and All Souls' Days, November 1 and 2, came to be linked with older Aztec rituals for the dead; in Mexico the first day remembers the young and the second adults.

Which Aztec festival honouring Mixcóatl, October 20 to November 8, is cited as the closest precursor of the holiday?

Quecholli, the Aztec month-festival for the hunting god Mixcóatl, ran from about October 20 to November 8; food altars were set near warriors' burial grounds, a practice seen as a forerunner of the ofrenda.

What savoury food wrapped in corn husks is prepared in large quantities for Day of the Dead offerings?

Tamales are one of the most common dishes prepared for the Day of the Dead, both for consumption by the living and as offerings for the spirits of ancestors.

Indigenous Mesoamerican belief is one root of Day of the Dead; what is the other?

Spanish Catholicism is the other root: colonial friars folded indigenous rites for the dead into the Church's November feasts, and some historians argue the modern festival is largely a 20th-century reframing of that European tradition.

Which Mexican name for the holiday's orange flower comes from Nahuatl for 'twenty flower'?

Cempasúchil comes from Nahuatl cempōhualxōchitl, 'twenty flower'; twenty was the base of the Aztec counting system, so the name suggests a flower of many petals and of completeness.

On November 2, Lake Pátzcuaro locals ride candlelit winged boats named after which creature?

The boats carry families to an island cemetery in the middle of the lake for an all-night celebration.

Which James Bond film's opening inspired Mexico City's first official Día de Muertos parade in 2016?

Spectre (2015) opens with a Day of the Dead parade that did not exist; Mexico City staged a real one in October 2016, and a reported 250,000 people turned up.

Which Aztec goddess, the 'Lady of the Dead,' ruled the underworld and watched over bones?

The Aztec goddess Mictecacíhuatl, the 'Lady of the Dead,' was a central figure in ancient celebrations and believed to watch over the bones of the deceased in the underworld.

Besides candles, what might the bottom tier of an ofrenda hold so the arriving spirit can freshen up?

A washbasin and towel, usually with soap and a mirror, sit on the lowest tier so the visiting spirit can wash and see itself after the long journey from the land of the dead.

What do families leave out on the Day of the Dead so that visiting spirits can rest after their long journey?

Pillows and blankets are set out so the dead can rest after the trip; in some towns families also spend the whole night beside relatives' graves.

Toys are brought to the ofrenda for the dead known by which affectionate name?

Los angelitos, 'the little angels', are deceased children, remembered on November 1 with toys and sweets on the ofrenda; adults instead receive bottles of tequila or mezcal.

Which Mexican state is known for its Day of the Dead cemetery vigils, especially on the island of Janitzio?

Michoacán's Lake Pátzcuaro holds the island of Janitzio, whose Purépecha residents keep candlelit vigils in the hillside cemetery on the night of November 1–2, drawing large crowds every year.

On traditional 'bread of the dead', the bone-shaped strips arranged in a ring portray what?

The ring of bone-shaped strips stands for the circle of life; the small dough ball on top represents a skull, and some loaves add a baked teardrop for the goddess Chīmalmā's tears.

The cempasúchil flower belongs to which botanical genus?

Cempasúchil is Tagetes erecta, a tall orange-flowered plant native to Mexico that the Aztecs cultivated for ritual use; growers in Puebla and Michoacán raise millions of the blooms for the holiday.

In which country is the holiday especially important to the Kichwa, about a quarter of the population?

In Ecuador the Día de los Difuntos matters most to the Kichwa, estimated at about a quarter of the population, though non-indigenous families also clean graves and bring flowers and traditional food and drink.

Which sweet, made by simmering squash in piloncillo syrup, is a Day of the Dead classic?

Calabaza en tacha is pumpkin or squash simmered in dark piloncillo sugar syrup with cinnamon; the candied wedges are set on ofrendas and eaten during the Day of the Dead season.

Historically, what was the holiday's main alcoholic drink?

Pulque, fermented from agave sap, was the main alcoholic drink of the holiday in earlier times; modern families set out whatever their departed relative liked best, often tequila or mezcal.

Which ghost-filled José Zorrilla play is traditionally staged in Spain for the holiday?

Don Juan Tenorio, José Zorrilla's 1844 drama whose final act unfolds among statues and spirits in a cemetery, is traditionally staged in Spain around All Saints' Day, one of the holiday's clear trans-Atlantic links.

Where does the Día de Muertos parade along the Paseo de la Reforma, first held in 2016, take place?

Mexico City's Día de Muertos parade runs along Paseo de la Reforma into the historic centre; it began in 2016 after a fictional version appeared in a James Bond film the year before.

In the Yucatán, which pit-baked dish of masa and pork lard is prepared around November 1 and eaten over the following days?

Mukbil pollo, píib chicken, is stuffed with pork, chicken, tomato, achiote and epazote, cooked on October 31 or November 1 and eaten by the family over the days after.

Día de las Ñatitas, the 'Day of the Skulls' held in early November, is a festival of which Bolivian city?

La Paz hosts the Día de las Ñatitas in early November, when families carry the actual skulls of relatives, the ñatitas, to the General Cemetery to be blessed and decorated.

What Spanish verb names the tradition of staying up all night with the dead?

Velar means to keep vigil: families 'velan' the dead by staying up all night at the altar or graveside; historian Elsa Malvido argued even this vigil is a relatively recent custom.

Tucson, Arizona has held which annual Day of the Dead-inspired event since 1990?

Tucson's All Souls' Procession, begun in 1990 by artist Susan Kay Johnson, grew to draw tens of thousands of participants and is one of the longest-running Day of the Dead-inspired events in the United States.

Which muralist gave the elegant skull etching a full-length body in his 1946-47 Alameda Park fresco?

Where the original print mocked upper-class women of the Porfiriato, the mural rehabilitated her into a national symbol.

The Aztecs devoted which two twenty-day months of their ritual calendar to the dead?

The ninth and tenth months, Miccailhuitontli and Hueymiccailhuitl, were the 'little' and 'great' feasts of the dead; the earlier honoured children and the later adults, a split some scholars see echoed in the modern two-day holiday.

In Aztec belief, how long does the dead's difficult journey through Mictlan to its final level take?

The soul's journey through the levels of Mictlan was said to take four years, with a psychopomp guiding it past obstacles such as clashing mountains and an obsidian wind until it reached its final rest.

Which psychopomp guides the dead on their journey through Mictlan?

Xolotl, the dog-headed twin of Quetzalcoatl and god of lightning and death, served as psychopomp, guiding souls through the perils of Mictlan to their final rest.

In Guatemala, what do some families attach to the strings of the holiday's kites?

Some families tie notes for the dead to the strings of the giant kites flown on November 1; the kites are seen as a line of communication with heaven and a guide for spirits returning to earth.

Which Mexican printmaker etched the elegantly dressed female skull, around 1910, that became the Day of the Dead's icon?

José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913) etched the 'Dapper Skull' in zinc; its first certain publication was a 1913 satirical broadside, after his death.

Historian Elsa Malvido, rejecting any indigenous origin, traces the tradition entirely to where?

Malvido traced the holiday entirely to medieval Europe, pointing to altars for the dead, skull-shaped sweets and bone-shaped bread made on the same date across Catholic southern Europe.

Under which Mexican president did the holiday begin to be officially separated from the Catholic Church?

Lázaro Cárdenas's government (1934–40) promoted indigenous identity over Catholic observance, which is why historian Elsa Malvido called the modern festivity a 'Cardenist invention'.

In Aztec belief, the underworld Mictlan consists of how many distinct levels?

A dead person's soul had to pass through every one of them to reach its final resting place.

Whose favourite foods and beverages are traditionally placed on a private ofrenda?

The departed person's favourite foods and drinks go on the ofrenda beside their photograph and keepsakes, so the returning soul finds what it loved in life.

Which Guatemalan region is known for its "Giant Kite Festival" on November 1st for the Day of the Dead?

In Sumpango, entrants spend months building kites that are judged on both creativity and length of flight.

In the Yucatán, the celebration is known as Hanal Pixan, a Maya phrase meaning what?

Hanal Pixán means 'food for the souls' in Yucatec Maya (hanal, food; pixán, soul); families prepare special dishes and set them out for returning spirits from October 31 to November 2.

José Guadalupe Posada was born in 1852 in which Mexican city?

José Guadalupe Posada was born in Aguascalientes on 2 February 1852 and trained there as a lithographer before moving to León and then Mexico City; the city's Museo Nacional de la Muerte and Festival de Calaveras honour him.

In which Mexican region is the Day of the Dead celebrated as Xantolo?

Xantolo is the Huasteca's name for the Day of the Dead: across the region spanning Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí and northern Veracruz, masked dancers go from house to house and flower arches frame the altars.

Which marzipan rolls filled with egg yolk are a Spanish treat for 1 November?

Huesos de santo ('saint's bones') are tubes of marzipan filled with sweetened egg yolk and glazed in syrup, sold by Spanish pastry shops around All Saints' Day on 1 November.

Which 2017 Pixar movie features Dia de los Muertos as a central theme?

Pixar's 'Coco' (2017) tells the story of a young boy named Miguel who accidentally enters the Land of the Dead during Dia de los Muertos. The film won two Academy Awards and brought global attention to the holiday.

Which Vodou spirit of the dead is honoured at Haiti's Fèt Gede on November 1–2?

Baron Samedi, lord of the Gede spirits of the dead, is honoured at Haiti's Fèt Gede on November 1 and 2, when devotees in top hats and black-and-purple dress gather at cemeteries with rum and pepper-spiced offerings.

Which Mexico City artisan created the first papier-mâché alebrijes in the 1930s?

Pedro Linares López, a Mexico City cartonería craftsman, invented alebrijes in 1936 after a feverish dream of fantastical creatures chanting the word; his papier-mâché beasts became a staple of Day of the Dead parades.

What word do Mexicans commonly use for a cemetery?

Panteón is the everyday Mexican word for a cemetery, so Day of the Dead vigils take place 'en el panteón'; the word derives from the Roman Pantheon and first meant a monumental tomb.

What does the small dish of salt on an ofrenda represent?

Salt stands for purification: a dish or cross of salt on the ofrenda is meant to purify the returning soul and keep it from corruption on its journey to and from the land of the dead.

In which state is Pomuch, where families clean the bones of their dead each Hanal Pixán?

Pomuch, a town in Campeche, keeps the ritual of removing relatives' bones from their niches, cleaning them and laying them on embroidered cloths for Hanal Pixán, the Maya Day of the Dead.

What is the petate sometimes laid beside or on an ofrenda?

A petate is a woven palm mat; on the ofrenda it serves as a bed where the visiting soul can rest, and it can also be spread as a cloth under the offerings.

In Aztec belief, which paradise received those who died by drowning or lightning?

Tlalocan, the lush realm of the rain god Tlaloc, received those whose deaths were linked to water: drowning, lightning, dropsy and similar causes, sparing them the long journey through the underworld.

Which Mexico City square hosts the capital's giant public ofrenda?

The Zócalo, Mexico City's main square, hosts the monumental public ofrenda, a themed installation of giant skulls and skeleton figures erected by the city government for the Day of the Dead.

What are calaveras literarias?

The custom began in the 18th or 19th century after a newspaper printed a poem about a dream of a future cemetery, and papers still publish them about politicians every year.

What do families typically do at cemeteries during Dia de los Muertos?

Families clean and decorate the graves with flowers, candles and food; in places such as Pátzcuaro and Janitzio they then spend the whole night beside them.

What is the purpose of placing the deceased's favorite foods and drinks on the ofrenda?

The deceased's favourite dishes and drinks are set out to feed the visiting spirits, who are believed to take in the essence and aroma of the food during their stay.

Which purple flower, called terciopelo in Mexico, is a Day of the Dead altar staple?

Cockscomb (Celosia), known as terciopelo or 'velvet' for its plush crest, is the purple flower of mourning on ofrendas, set beside the orange blooms that guide the souls.

In Guatemala, the giant kites flown for the dead on November 1 are called what?

Barriletes is the Guatemalan word for kites; the barriletes gigantes flown on November 1 in towns near Antigua, some over ten metres across, are meant to connect the living with the dead.

In Pixar's 2017 film set in the Land of the Dead, what causes a spirit to fade from existence for good?

Héctor's whole bargain with Miguel hinges on getting his photo onto an ofrenda before his daughter forgets him.

What did the Aztecs call the deified spirits of women who died in childbirth?

The Cihuateteo were women who died giving birth, honoured like fallen warriors; they escorted the sun from noon to dusk and were feared at crossroads, where they were thought to snatch children.

Which Yucatecan city holds the Paseo de las Ánimas, a candlelit procession of the souls?

Mérida's Paseo de las Ánimas has thousands of participants in skull make-up walk from the General Cemetery to the San Juan neighbourhood, past ofrendas lining the route, for Hanal Pixán.

According to UNESCO, the festival period also marks the end of the annual growing cycle of which crop?

UNESCO's listing notes the festivity coincides with the end of the annual maize-growing cycle; families believe a satisfied dead can repay the ritual with an abundant harvest, while a neglected one brings illness or misfortune.

Brazil observes its day for the dead on November 2 under what name?

Dia de Finados, a national holiday in Brazil on November 2, sees families visit cemeteries with flowers and candles and attend Mass for the departed.

Xibalba, the underworld of the Popol Vuh, belongs to which people's mythology?

Xibalba, 'place of fright', is the Maya underworld described in the K'iche' Popol Vuh, where the Hero Twins outwit its death lords; its entrances were placed in caves and cenotes.

Who wrote The Labyrinth of Solitude, with its chapter 'All Saints, Day of the Dead'?

Octavio Paz's 1950 essay collection The Labyrinth of Solitude includes 'All Saints, Day of the Dead', arguing that Mexicans joke with and caress death where other cultures flee it.

What is the moulded sugar-paste craft behind Day of the Dead skulls and coffins, centred on Toluca?

Alfeñique is a paste of powdered sugar, lemon and chautle, a plant adhesive, moulded into skulls, coffins and animals; Toluca's Feria del Alfeñique is devoted to it, and the word reached Spanish from Arabic.

Which Mexican painter made the 1938 work 'Girl with Death Mask (She Plays Alone)'?

Frida Kahlo painted Girl with Death Mask (She Plays Alone) in 1938: a small child in a white skull mask holding a yellow flower on a bleak plain, a tiny canvas read as a meditation on childhood and death.

Which company dropped a 2013 bid to trademark 'Día de los Muertos' after public backlash?

Disney filed in May 2013 to trademark 'Día de los Muertos' for merchandise tied to a planned film, and withdrew the applications within days after an outcry led by Latino artists.

Which 2014 animated film, produced by Guillermo del Toro, also features Dia de los Muertos themes?

'The Book of Life' (2014), produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, features a story set during Dia de los Muertos. It follows Manolo, who must travel through the Land of the Remembered and the Land of the Forgotten.

Oaxaca's ground-level Day of the Dead pictures called tapetes are made from which coloured material?

Oaxaca's tapetes are pictures laid out on the ground in coloured sand, often with seeds, sawdust and flower petals worked in, and they are swept away once the celebrations end.

The Festival de Tradiciones de Vida y Muerte is held at which Riviera Maya park?

Xcaret, the eco-archaeological park near Playa del Carmen, has staged the Festival de Tradiciones de Vida y Muerte around the Day of the Dead since the mid-2000s, featuring music, theatre and a guest state's altars.

What are calacas?

Calacas are skeleton figures, from clay figurines to full costumes and masks, almost always shown joyous rather than mournful: dancing, drinking or playing music, often with marigolds and foliage.

In larger Mexican cities, costumed children knock on doors asking for a small gift known as what?

Children ask '¿me da mi calaverita?' and receive sweets, fruit or a few coins; the custom resembles trick-or-treating but carries no threat of mischief if the householder gives nothing.

What is the male skeleton figure in skull make-up and top hat called?

The Catrin is La Catrina's male counterpart: skull make-up with a top hat, tailcoat or charro suit and often a cane; both costumes surged in popularity after the characters appeared on film.

In Pixar's 2017 Land of the Dead film, what kind of creature is the alebrije Pepita?

Pepita, Mamá Imelda's alebrije, is a huge winged jaguar with eagle-like talons who tracks Miguel through the Land of the Dead; the film borrowed alebrijes as spirit guides from Mexican folk art.

Which song from Pixar's 2017 Land of the Dead film won the Best Original Song Oscar?

'Remember Me' (Recuérdame), written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in March 2018; 'Un Poco Loco' and 'Proud Corazón' are also from the film.

In which century did Spanish colonizers begin merging indigenous festivals of the dead with Catholic ones?

In the 1500s, after Cortés's campaign against Tenochtitlan ended in 1521, the missionaries who followed lined the indigenous festivals of the dead up with the Church's autumn feasts for the dead.

Which Purépecha folk dance has masked young men hobble on canes, then leap about?

The Danza de los Viejitos, a Purépecha dance, has boys and young men in wrinkled wooden masks hobble on canes like old men before breaking into vigorous stamping; its Purépecha name is T'arche Uarakua.

Self Help Graphics' 1970s Day of the Dead celebrations popularised the holiday in which US city?

Self Help Graphics & Art, a Chicano print workshop in East Los Angeles, began staging Day of the Dead processions in the early 1970s; Hollywood Forever Cemetery later added its own festival with altars to Jayne Mansfield and Johnny Ramone.

In Pixar's 2017 Land of the Dead film, which late singing star does Miguel idolise?

Ernesto de la Cruz, the silver-screen singer Miguel worships, turns out to have poisoned his songwriting partner Héctor and stolen his songs, including the one that made him famous.

The arch of reeds or wire and flowers set above the top tier of an ofrenda symbolizes what?

The arch of reeds or sugar cane and flowers over the ofrenda stands for the doorway to the world of the dead, through which the souls pass; it is usually hung with fruit and sweets as well as flowers.

In Dia de los Muertos tradition, what happens to the food placed on the ofrenda after the celebration?

The family eats the food once the souls have departed; the belief is that the spirits have already taken its essence, so what remains looks the same but has lost its nourishment and flavour.

Which Oaxacan mole, made with chocolate and six kinds of chili, is the best known and most complex of the famous seven?

Mole negro gets its colour from chilhuacle and other chilies charred almost black before grinding, plus chocolate; it is the best known of Oaxaca's seven moles and a fixture on Day of the Dead tables and altars.

In Sicily's festival of the dead, children hunt for gifts in shoes or a wicker basket called what?

U cannistru is the basket of sweets, toys and fruit the 'defunti' are said to leave; older relatives play the dead who sneak in with gifts, including bone-shaped almond cookies called ossa dei morti.

What are Sicily's painted marzipan 'sweets of the dead', shaped to look like produce, called?

Frutta martorana are Sicilian marzipan sweets moulded and painted to look like fruit, named after Palermo's Martorana convent and traditional for the Festa dei Morti on November 2; pupi di zucchero are sugar dolls.

Which pine-nut-studded sweets are eaten in Catalonia for Tots Sants on 1 November?

Panellets are small balls of ground almond, sugar and sweet potato, rolled in pine nuts and baked for La Castanyada and Tots Sants around 1 November in Catalonia.

What are the Ecuadorian bread figures shaped like infants, eaten with colada morada, called?

Guaguas de pan ('bread babies', from Kichwa wawa, child) are sweet loaves shaped and iced like swaddled infants, paired with the purple drink colada morada on Ecuador's Día de los Difuntos.

Which dish is prepared in Guatemala only for the holiday, alongside the giant kite flying?

Fiambre is a huge chilled salad of cured meats, sausages, cheeses, pickled vegetables and eggs assembled only for November 1, when Guatemalan families eat it at home or beside freshly repainted graves.

What do Chinese Filipinos additionally burn during Undás, the Philippine observance?

Chinese Filipino families add joss sticks and paper offerings to the Undás rituals; Filipinos generally clean and repair family tombs and often hold overnight reunions at the cemetery, echoing Mexican practice.