PHOTOS: Celebrating Día de los Muertos in Mérida

The first weeks in Mexico we already did a bit of Día de los Muertos (literally: Day of the Dead) ‘sniffing’ in Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende. Everywhere the festivities where in the air.

Throughout the country, we saw streets, homes, shops and restaurants colourfully decorated with vivid flowers, sugary skulls and those typical posh skeletons ‘Calavera de Catrina’. I guess the decorative feeling is comparable to the day leading up to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Or Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Or whatever typical festivity for that matter!

Although we already enjoyed quite some celebrations in Mexico City, we decided to celebrate the actual day in Mérida; the biggest city of the Yucatán region. Before the trip, I’d searched a bit online and found out that Mérida should be one of the top five cities the celebrate the event.

Also, Mérida has less of a touristy feel compared to other cities on the peninsula. So we thought, let’s just give it a go!  

I mean obviously the day is celebrated everywhere throughout the country, but in most villages it remains more of a private event. After all, it’s all about honouring the ancestors and the recently deceased, a tradition that originates in the ancient cultures of the Americas. 

I’m pretty sure we would have loved the celebrations in any bigger city, whether we’d be in Oaxaca, Mexico City or San Cristóbal de las Casas. But I was really surprised to see the many efforts in Mérida – all in all the town had organised a pretty big and open celebration.

Even though there were some tourists, I felt like we were one of the few outside spectators. Although it may not have noticed all of the gringos; it’s a lot easier to blend in with painted faces after all 🙂 

And so did we. Right in front of the cemetery there was ample opportunity to let that inner skeleton out. For only 20 MXN ($1,- USD) ladies were eager to smack some black and white on those cheeks. 

Around 8 pm the procession started at the enormous cemetery in the southwest of the city.

It had something eerie, to see all of the ‘skeletons’ walking around the poorly lit cemetery, where many graves were decorated with flowers and colourful gifts. 

Before the parade began, there was a moment of silence. The procession remained quite solemn on the cemetery anyway, but once the flow of ‘skeletons’ broke through the gate it became a bit more of a chaos.

That wasn’t so weird as it was quite a crowded event, both for the participants of the parade and the crowds that came to see it. 

Gradually the procession became smaller and smaller as people stopped on the way to break for snacks and drinks. 

Many locals along the Calle 66, the street that connects the cemetery with Parque San Juan – the ending of the parade – had opened their houses and were selling all kinds of goodies: marquitas (typical Mexican waffles), palomitas (popcorn), popsicles, tamales (a typical Central American meal with lots of different ingredients wrapped in a banana leaf) and of course Mexican beers.  

Apart from that, some houses placed little ‘ofrendas‘ (altars to honour their deceased, beloved ones) right in front of their doorsteps. 

I thought it was beautiful to see all of these. 

And thus the evening continued, with a lot of folkloric dancing and musical acts in between along the parade. What a spectacle it was. Everywhere you were looking something else was going on!

I immensely enjoyed this celebration in Mérida and I really love it how the people in Mexico remember their ancestors, celebrate life and embrace the fact that no one can escape death.

If you can’t defeat, better celebrate it – and as abundant as possible!   

Here’s where the procession started and ended in Mérida!