This year, Mexico City's grand Dia de Muertos parade has drawn about 1.5 million people. The event was inspired in part by a James Bond movie.
UNESCO proclaimed the Dia de Muertos celebration as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2003Image: Luis Cortes/REUTERS
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About 1.5 million people gathered in Mexico City on Saturday during a grand parade for the Day of the Dead, according to the city officials.
Thousands of performers took part in this year's parade in Mexico CityImage: Luis Cortes/REUTERS
Known in Spanish as Dia de Muertos, the Day of the Dead is one of Mexico's most important annual festivities and a huge international attraction. It's worth noting, however, that Mexico City only launched the annual parade in 2016, after taking inspiration from the 2015 James Bond movie, "Spectre." In the opening of that film, the British agent is wearing a skeleton costume while walking with a beautiful woman though a large crowd celebrating Dia de Muertos — before abandoning her in a hotel room to stalk his target on the rooftops.
Colorful costumes and parade floats are used to preserve memories and honor dead family membersImage: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images
The festivities begin in late October, when families welcome the spirits of deceased children and continue to November 1 with sweets and toys for the young souls believed to return to earth to visit their families.
The parade also features colorful, fantastical sculptures known as alebrijesImage: Luis Cortes/REUTERS
The parade marking Day of the Dead in Mexico City also draws visitors from other countriesImage: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images
The parade in Mexico's capital on Saturday serves as the heart of the festivities, bringing together diverse cultural traditions from the nation of over 130 million people.
While honoring the dead is a long-running tradition in Mexico, the first Dia de Muertos parade was only held in Mexico in 2016 — inspired by the opening scene from the James Bond movie Spectre in 2015Image: Luis Cortes/REUTERS
The celebration concludes on November 2 with offerings of favorite foods and drinks for the adults being honored.
Day of the Dead: Mexico honors deceased loved ones
Mexicans celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in late October and early November to honor deceased family members. It's a colorful, life-affirming period of parades and parties.
Image: Daniel Cardenas/Andalou/picture alliance
Happy holiday
Laughter instead of tears: It may seem macabre, but even though death is the focus, Dia de los Muertos is a joyful holiday in Mexico. Colorful parades, such as this one in Mexico City, commemorate the deceased, who, according to popular belief, awaken from their eternal sleep on this day to visit their loved ones.
Image: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP
Horror without Halloween
During the celebrations, giant skeletons parade through the cities ― but even though the symbolism is similar, Dia de los Muertos has nothing to do with Halloween. The Aztecs and Mayans believed that death was only the beginning of a new life; with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, the festivities in honor of the dead became intertwined with Catholic customs.
Image: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP/Getty Images
E.T. cycling home
The main celebrations begin on the eve of All Saints' Day on October 31 and continue until November 2. But even before the actual Day of the Dead, numerous parades take place, including a nighttime bicycle parade through Mexico City. The participants are dressed up, and their bikes and other vehicles are decorated — here, E.T. is being transported on a luggage rack.
Image: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP
Guide for the dead
Marigolds, also known as tagetes, are the quintessential floral decoration for Dia de los Muertos. Their bright orange color and scent are said to guide the souls of the deceased back to the world of the living. Cemeteries are also decorated with marigolds; on the last day of the celebrations, families gather there to picnic and dance together by the graves of their ancestors.
Image: Henry Romero/REUTERS
Perhaps the most beautiful skulls in the world
For around ten years, the Catrina Parade has been an integral part of the preparations for Dia de los Muertos. It was launched in 2014 by a make-up artist. What began as a small circle of creative people has now become one of the biggest events in the run-up to the Day of the Dead: every year, the parade with its elaborately made-up participants attracts tens of thousands of spectators.
At the beginning of the 20th century, artist Jose Guadalupe Posada created the Catrina figure — a skeleton in elegant clothing — as a caricature to mock the Mexican upper class's obsession with European elegance. Posada also coined the phrase "todos somos calaveras," which translates to "we are all skulls," emphasizing the equality of all human beings.
Image: Raquel Cunha/REUTERS
Celebration of Diversity
Together with around 200 other LGBTQ+ activists, drag artist Santiago Mercado is marching in this year's Catrina Parade in Mexico City. The parade is a rare safe space in a country where queer people are often subjected to violence. Numerous other groups with social or political causes are also taking part in the parade.
Image: Claudia Rosel/AP Photo/picture alliance
Colorful commemoration
Even the youngest take part: the Day of the Dead is a celebration for everyone, celebrated by Mexicans regardless of their religion or ethnic origin. And even though it originated in Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is now celebrated throughout Latin America. In 2008, UNESCO declared the celebrations an intangible cultural heritage.
