By FERNANDA PESCE
Family members keep vigil beside graves during Day of the Dead festivities at the Tzintzuntzan cemetery in Michocan, Mexico, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. In a tradition that coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls Day on Nov. 1 and 2, families decorate the graves of departed relatives with marigolds and candles, and spend the night in the cemetery, eating and drinking as they keep company with their deceased loved ones.
Family members keep vigil beside graves during Day of the Dead festivities at the Tzintzuntzan cemetery in Michocan, Mexico, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. In a tradition that coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls Day on Nov. 1 and 2, families decorate the graves of departed relatives with marigolds and candles, and spend the night in the cemetery, eating and drinking as they keep company with their deceased loved ones.
(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
AROCUTIN, Mexico (AP) — The famed Day of the Dead ceremonies around Mexico’s Lake Patzcuaro were once again thronged with visitors on Monday, economic relief for a tourist-dependent region that suffered from last year’s pandemic shutdown of the observance.
In the lakeside city of Patzcuaro itself, tourists were treated to a parade, theater and music performances.
“Come and visit us, Patzcuaro welcomes you with open arms,” said Julio Arreola, mayor of the city in the western state of Michoacan that is famed for its colonial-era plazas and architecture.
But in some smaller villages around the lakeshore, residents tried to preserve the authentic, non-tourist flavor of traditions passed down for hundreds of years.
While kids in Mexico City donned Halloween-style costumes based on the Netflix series “Squid Game,” people in the village of Arocutín were more concerned with the flower arrangements and candles meant to guide the spirits of the dead home.
Locals carry flowers outside of Arocutin municipal cemetery as people arrive to pay their respects to their dead in Arocutin, Michoacan, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Residents of Arocutín started hanging up traditional garlands of marigold flowers early morning Sunday to adorn the entrance of the small local cemetery.
Arocutín remains a holdout: It is the only town in the region where the cemetery lies in the churchyard, and where all the tombs are dug directly into the earth, surrounded by a simple ring of stones, rather than the more elaborate cement and brick vaults used elsewhere.
“It’s all about preserving tradition as much as we can”, said Alma Ascencio, the representative for local artisans. “Tourism has distorted everything. This is a celebration, sure, but a religious one, so there is no music or much alcohol. It is very private, a completely different thing.”
While the island of Janitzio in Lake Patzcuaro is the site best known for colorful Day of the Dead celebrations, the tiny island remains remains closed to visitors to avoid crowding.
That raised concerns that tourists might flock to smaller villages nearby.
Those concerns may be overstated. The only American in Arocutín Monday was Georgia Conti. A retired healthcare manager, she decided to move to Arocutín precisely because of its beauty and traditions, and she now lives here with her dog.
When she was building her house with her late husband, they found bones that were believed to be those of a soldier killed in 1915 during the Mexican Revolution.
“Some tourists do come around here, but here is a different world. I really respect their traditions”, said Conti. “Villagers are really welcoming and told me I could lay my mother’s ashes here, next to the unknown soldier. I will probably be buried here when I die”.
The Day of the Dead originated in Indigenous cultures and has been celebrated for thousands of years, but tourists started arriving in Arocutín only in 2002. Residents are open to sharing their costumes, but resistant to changing them in any way.
“We don’t celebrate Halloween here. We are not American, we celebrate our dead. Our culture is rich enough here in Michoacán and Mexico,” Ascencio said while preparing marigold garlands.
Preparations for the Day of the Dead start on the 31st with residents adorning the tombs with marigold arches and candles.
That is the night Mexicans celebrate their deceased children, while the night from the 1st to the 2nd is dedicated to the adult dead.
Arocutín is one of the few communities where a church bell rings to call the souls and guide them back to the land of the living, to prevent them from getting lost. Each community has a different sound. This is also one of the few communities where people stay up all night, offering food and presents to the deceased.
“We coexist with our dead. We bring them all the things they liked when they were alive. Sometimes it is a beer, or a tequila with a cigarette,” said Alma Ascencio.
Elizabeth Ascencio lost her newborn 20 years ago and every year comes to adorn the small stone tomb with marigold petals to guarantee his return for the night.
“This is a special day, a beautiful day”, said Elizabeth Ascencio. “We try very hard to welcome our dead”.
Every year,the town erects a big decorated arch at the entrance to the cemetery. To many, this is the door through which the dead enter.
According to tradition, the only force that allows residents to lift the tree trunks that form the arch are the souls of the children who respond to the sound of the bells and come to help.
Bunches of Mexican marigolds adorn another monumental wooden arch that lies on the floor of another small cemetery not far from Arocutín. A group of residents patiently tie the flowers to the tree trunks, while others rest or enjoy a taco under the sun. The villagers decorate the arches, then lift them into place.
Cecilio Sánchez, a construction worker and a resident of the neighboring town of San Francisco Uricho, learned how to make the flower arch from his elders.
“But for all of us, our arch is much more beautiful than the one in Arocutín,” Sánchez said.
Maria Ermenegildo, 69, is a traditional embroidery artisan who has lived in Arocutín her entire life.
“We’ve always done it this way,” said Ermenegildo, while finishing the last marigold garlands ahead of the big night. “No other village can decorate and celebrate the way we do. We feel very proud every time tourists tell us how beautiful everything is.”
AROCUTIN, Mexico (AP) — The famed Day of the Dead ceremonies around Mexico’s Lake Patzcuaro were once again thronged with visitors on Monday, economic relief for a tourist-dependent region that suffered from last year’s pandemic shutdown of the observance.
In the lakeside city of Patzcuaro itself, tourists were treated to a parade, theater and music performances.
“Come and visit us, Patzcuaro welcomes you with open arms,” said Julio Arreola, mayor of the city in the western state of Michoacan that is famed for its colonial-era plazas and architecture.
But in some smaller villages around the lakeshore, residents tried to preserve the authentic, non-tourist flavor of traditions passed down for hundreds of years.
While kids in Mexico City donned Halloween-style costumes based on the Netflix series “Squid Game,” people in the village of Arocutín were more concerned with the flower arrangements and candles meant to guide the spirits of the dead home.
Locals carry flowers outside of Arocutin municipal cemetery as people arrive to pay their respects to their dead in Arocutin, Michoacan, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Residents of Arocutín started hanging up traditional garlands of marigold flowers early morning Sunday to adorn the entrance of the small local cemetery.
Arocutín remains a holdout: It is the only town in the region where the cemetery lies in the churchyard, and where all the tombs are dug directly into the earth, surrounded by a simple ring of stones, rather than the more elaborate cement and brick vaults used elsewhere.
“It’s all about preserving tradition as much as we can”, said Alma Ascencio, the representative for local artisans. “Tourism has distorted everything. This is a celebration, sure, but a religious one, so there is no music or much alcohol. It is very private, a completely different thing.”
While the island of Janitzio in Lake Patzcuaro is the site best known for colorful Day of the Dead celebrations, the tiny island remains remains closed to visitors to avoid crowding.
That raised concerns that tourists might flock to smaller villages nearby.
Those concerns may be overstated. The only American in Arocutín Monday was Georgia Conti. A retired healthcare manager, she decided to move to Arocutín precisely because of its beauty and traditions, and she now lives here with her dog.
When she was building her house with her late husband, they found bones that were believed to be those of a soldier killed in 1915 during the Mexican Revolution.
“Some tourists do come around here, but here is a different world. I really respect their traditions”, said Conti. “Villagers are really welcoming and told me I could lay my mother’s ashes here, next to the unknown soldier. I will probably be buried here when I die”.
The Day of the Dead originated in Indigenous cultures and has been celebrated for thousands of years, but tourists started arriving in Arocutín only in 2002. Residents are open to sharing their costumes, but resistant to changing them in any way.
“We don’t celebrate Halloween here. We are not American, we celebrate our dead. Our culture is rich enough here in Michoacán and Mexico,” Ascencio said while preparing marigold garlands.
Preparations for the Day of the Dead start on the 31st with residents adorning the tombs with marigold arches and candles.
That is the night Mexicans celebrate their deceased children, while the night from the 1st to the 2nd is dedicated to the adult dead.
Arocutín is one of the few communities where a church bell rings to call the souls and guide them back to the land of the living, to prevent them from getting lost. Each community has a different sound. This is also one of the few communities where people stay up all night, offering food and presents to the deceased.
“We coexist with our dead. We bring them all the things they liked when they were alive. Sometimes it is a beer, or a tequila with a cigarette,” said Alma Ascencio.
Elizabeth Ascencio lost her newborn 20 years ago and every year comes to adorn the small stone tomb with marigold petals to guarantee his return for the night.
“This is a special day, a beautiful day”, said Elizabeth Ascencio. “We try very hard to welcome our dead”.
Every year,the town erects a big decorated arch at the entrance to the cemetery. To many, this is the door through which the dead enter.
According to tradition, the only force that allows residents to lift the tree trunks that form the arch are the souls of the children who respond to the sound of the bells and come to help.
Bunches of Mexican marigolds adorn another monumental wooden arch that lies on the floor of another small cemetery not far from Arocutín. A group of residents patiently tie the flowers to the tree trunks, while others rest or enjoy a taco under the sun. The villagers decorate the arches, then lift them into place.
Cecilio Sánchez, a construction worker and a resident of the neighboring town of San Francisco Uricho, learned how to make the flower arch from his elders.
“But for all of us, our arch is much more beautiful than the one in Arocutín,” Sánchez said.
Maria Ermenegildo, 69, is a traditional embroidery artisan who has lived in Arocutín her entire life.
“We’ve always done it this way,” said Ermenegildo, while finishing the last marigold garlands ahead of the big night. “No other village can decorate and celebrate the way we do. We feel very proud every time tourists tell us how beautiful everything is.”
Pandemic-hit Mexican town awaits reunion with dead
Pandemic-hit Mexican town awaits reunion with dead
- 'Calmer now' -
Atizapan is the Mexican municipality with the highest mortality rate due to Covid-19 relative to its population size, according to data from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The town of 12,894 people has registered 303 deaths from coronavirus, with a peak seen at the beginning of this year.
"Two or three people died every day. We were burying them up until the night," said Freddy Gonzalez, who manages the town's cemetery.
Before the crisis, annual deaths were around 60, so the graveyard had to expand its capacity and schedule to keep up, he said.
"But it's calmer now. There are two or three deaths every month," the 29-year-old said.
With the pandemic easing, relatives were allowed to enter the cemetery to tidy and decorate the graves before the Day of the Dead.
The country of 126 million has an official Covid-19 death toll of more than 288,000 -- one of the highest in the world.
Jimenez's sister Estela died in June 2020. In December, the coronavirus claimed the life of another sister.
Maria Luisa, who was 74, had continued to travel by public transport to her job as a domestic worker in Mexico City, putting her at risk of infection.
Estela, 76, died when the oxygen in her tank ran out on the way to a clinic.
"I gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation," but it was not enough, Jimenez said.
- 'Crying not enough' -
Atizapan only has one hospital providing basic care and many patients faced a one-hour journey for treatment, according to a paramedic working in the area.
At critical moments in the pandemic the hospitals were overwhelmed, said the man, who attended hundreds of emergencies in the town.
"Crying was not enough to release the emotion. We wanted to throw in the towel, but we had to continue," said the 27-year-old, who did not want to be named.
To honor those who died and try to ease the pain, the residents of Atizapan prepared colorful altars for the visiting souls.
"Not even the pandemic dampened our enthusiasm," said Antonio Briseno, 35, who lost his mother-in-law during the pandemic.
"We wait for our loved ones with much affection and respect," said Briseno, who put out photos of his mother, grandmother and mother-in-law along with fruit, beans, rice, chicken, chocolate, brandy and cigars.
Like his neighbors, he scattered marigold petals on the floor to guide the spirits to the altar.
Gonzalez, the cemetery manager, placed an offering in the chapel for the people whose bodies lie unidentified.
The paramedic dedicated his altar to those he saw pass away during the pandemic.
"Many died with empty stomachs," he said.
axm-dr/st
Mexicans return to Day of the Dead celebration with a vengeance
Sun, October 31, 2021
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Thousands of Mexicans crowded into the main avenue of Mexico City for a lively Day of the Dead parade on Sunday, relishing the chance to mark the festive tradition after the coronavirus pandemic cast a thick pall over it last year.
Most of the mass of spectators lining Paseo de la Reforma boulevard wore protective face masks as they watched colorful floats, bands and performers trundle down the street.
Others proudly sported bright depictions of calavera skulls on their faces to celebrate.
"I love coming to see this tradition we Mexicans can't lose sight of," said Leticia Galvan, a 67-year-old civil servant decked out in a skeleton suit and trilby, and with half of her face painted in the colors of a La Catrina skull.
"It's us making light of death, celebrating death."
Children sat atop their parents' shoulders to catch sight of the procession of floats bearing dancers in indigenous attire and feathered headdresses, scaled-down reproductions of Mexico City landmarks and spectral figures.
Mexico has endured one of the highest death tolls worldwide from the COVID-19 pandemic, and last year the city authorities urged the public to stay at home, ordering cemeteries to close during festivities traditionally held on Nov. 1-2.
But with nearly half the population now fully vaccinated against the virus, Mexico has in recent weeks significantly reduced daily infections, enabling the capital and most other regions of the country to lift restrictions on the public.
Many Mexicans still mask up when they go outdoors and some spectators kept their distance from the parade.
"I didn't expect to see so many people," said Rebeca Brito, a 22-year-old nurse, hanging back to avoid the crowds. "After all the time spent cooped up, they want to get out now."
Pandemic-hit Mexican town awaits reunion with dead
Mexico's Day of the Dead festival centers around the belief that souls of the deceased return for a brief reunion (AFP/Claudio CRUZ)
Alexander Martinez
Mon, November 1, 2021
Sandra Jimenez lost two sisters to the coronavirus, which devastated her small Mexican town. On Monday she awaited the return of their souls for the Day of the Dead.
Many events linked to what is considered Mexico's most important festival were canceled last year as the Latin American country battled to contain the virus.
But with a third wave of infections now subsiding, this year has seen the return of cemetery visits and other public celebrations, including a parade through the capital.
In Santa Cruz Atizapan, in the central State of Mexico, church bells rang out for months at the height of the pandemic in a show of respect for the many victims.
The residents found it so traumatizing that they asked for the tolling to stop, Jimenez said as she tidied the graves of relatives in the town's cemetery.
"It was horrible, distressing!" the 64-year-old said.
The Day of the Dead, which is rooted in indigenous culture, centers around the belief that the souls of the dead return on the night of November 1-2.
Families put out altars with pictures of relatives and their favorite foods, along with candles and decorative skulls.
Alexander Martinez
Mon, November 1, 2021
Sandra Jimenez lost two sisters to the coronavirus, which devastated her small Mexican town. On Monday she awaited the return of their souls for the Day of the Dead.
Many events linked to what is considered Mexico's most important festival were canceled last year as the Latin American country battled to contain the virus.
But with a third wave of infections now subsiding, this year has seen the return of cemetery visits and other public celebrations, including a parade through the capital.
In Santa Cruz Atizapan, in the central State of Mexico, church bells rang out for months at the height of the pandemic in a show of respect for the many victims.
The residents found it so traumatizing that they asked for the tolling to stop, Jimenez said as she tidied the graves of relatives in the town's cemetery.
"It was horrible, distressing!" the 64-year-old said.
The Day of the Dead, which is rooted in indigenous culture, centers around the belief that the souls of the dead return on the night of November 1-2.
Families put out altars with pictures of relatives and their favorite foods, along with candles and decorative skulls.
- 'Calmer now' -
Atizapan is the Mexican municipality with the highest mortality rate due to Covid-19 relative to its population size, according to data from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The town of 12,894 people has registered 303 deaths from coronavirus, with a peak seen at the beginning of this year.
"Two or three people died every day. We were burying them up until the night," said Freddy Gonzalez, who manages the town's cemetery.
Before the crisis, annual deaths were around 60, so the graveyard had to expand its capacity and schedule to keep up, he said.
"But it's calmer now. There are two or three deaths every month," the 29-year-old said.
With the pandemic easing, relatives were allowed to enter the cemetery to tidy and decorate the graves before the Day of the Dead.
The country of 126 million has an official Covid-19 death toll of more than 288,000 -- one of the highest in the world.
Jimenez's sister Estela died in June 2020. In December, the coronavirus claimed the life of another sister.
Maria Luisa, who was 74, had continued to travel by public transport to her job as a domestic worker in Mexico City, putting her at risk of infection.
Estela, 76, died when the oxygen in her tank ran out on the way to a clinic.
"I gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation," but it was not enough, Jimenez said.
A woman takes part in a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, where an easing of the pandemic led to the return of public celebrations (AFP/CLAUDIO CRUZ)
- 'Crying not enough' -
Atizapan only has one hospital providing basic care and many patients faced a one-hour journey for treatment, according to a paramedic working in the area.
At critical moments in the pandemic the hospitals were overwhelmed, said the man, who attended hundreds of emergencies in the town.
"Crying was not enough to release the emotion. We wanted to throw in the towel, but we had to continue," said the 27-year-old, who did not want to be named.
To honor those who died and try to ease the pain, the residents of Atizapan prepared colorful altars for the visiting souls.
"Not even the pandemic dampened our enthusiasm," said Antonio Briseno, 35, who lost his mother-in-law during the pandemic.
"We wait for our loved ones with much affection and respect," said Briseno, who put out photos of his mother, grandmother and mother-in-law along with fruit, beans, rice, chicken, chocolate, brandy and cigars.
Like his neighbors, he scattered marigold petals on the floor to guide the spirits to the altar.
Gonzalez, the cemetery manager, placed an offering in the chapel for the people whose bodies lie unidentified.
The paramedic dedicated his altar to those he saw pass away during the pandemic.
"Many died with empty stomachs," he said.
axm-dr/st
Sun, October 31, 2021
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Thousands of Mexicans crowded into the main avenue of Mexico City for a lively Day of the Dead parade on Sunday, relishing the chance to mark the festive tradition after the coronavirus pandemic cast a thick pall over it last year.
Most of the mass of spectators lining Paseo de la Reforma boulevard wore protective face masks as they watched colorful floats, bands and performers trundle down the street.
Others proudly sported bright depictions of calavera skulls on their faces to celebrate.
"I love coming to see this tradition we Mexicans can't lose sight of," said Leticia Galvan, a 67-year-old civil servant decked out in a skeleton suit and trilby, and with half of her face painted in the colors of a La Catrina skull.
"It's us making light of death, celebrating death."
Children sat atop their parents' shoulders to catch sight of the procession of floats bearing dancers in indigenous attire and feathered headdresses, scaled-down reproductions of Mexico City landmarks and spectral figures.
Mexico has endured one of the highest death tolls worldwide from the COVID-19 pandemic, and last year the city authorities urged the public to stay at home, ordering cemeteries to close during festivities traditionally held on Nov. 1-2.
But with nearly half the population now fully vaccinated against the virus, Mexico has in recent weeks significantly reduced daily infections, enabling the capital and most other regions of the country to lift restrictions on the public.
Many Mexicans still mask up when they go outdoors and some spectators kept their distance from the parade.
"I didn't expect to see so many people," said Rebeca Brito, a 22-year-old nurse, hanging back to avoid the crowds. "After all the time spent cooped up, they want to get out now."
Mexico Day of the Dead
A woman made up as a "Catrina" and wearing a face shield posed for a photo during Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico City, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. Altars and artwork from around the country were on display in a parade, as Mexicans honor the Day of the Dead. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexico celebrates Day of the Dead after pandemic closures
MARCO UGARTE and LISSETTE ROMERO
Sun, October 31, 2021,
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico returned Sunday to mass commemorations of the Day of the Dead, after traditional visits to graveyards were prohibited last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the one-year hiatus showed how the tradition itself refuses to die: Most families still celebrated with home altars to deceased loved ones, and some snuck into cemeteries anyway.
Gerardo Tapia Guadarrama on Sunday joined many others at the cemetery as he visited the grave of his father Juan Ignacio Tapia, who died in May 2020 of a thrombosis.
Even though cemeteries in Mexico were closed to visitors last year to avoid spreading the virus, so strong is the tradition that his son still slipped into the cemetery in the eastern Mexico City suburb of Valle de Chalco to visit him.
’Lat year it was prohibited, but we found a way," Tapia Guadarrama said slyly. Much of graveyard has low walls that can be jumped.
“To live is to remember,” he said. “What they (the dead) most want want is a visit from those they were close to in life."
A musician walks in the Valle de Chalco municipal cemetery as people begin to arrive to pay their respects to their dead, on the outskirts of Mexico
The holiday begins Oct. 31, remembering those who died in accidents; it continues Nov. 1 to mark those died in childhood, and then those who died as adults on Nov. 2.
Observances include entire families cleaning and decorating graves, which are covered with orange marigolds. At both cemeteries and at home altars, relatives light candles, put out offerings of the favorite foods and beverages of their deceased relatives.
There was a special altar in downtown Mexico City dedicated to those who died of COVID-19. Relatives were allowed into a fenced-off plaza and offered equipment to print out photos of their loved ones, which they could then pin, along with handwritten, messages on a black wall.
It was a quiet, solemn remembrance in a country where coronavirus deaths touched almost all extended families.
Mexico has over 288,000 test-confirmed deaths, but probable coronavirus mortalities as listed on death certificates suggest a toll closer to 440,000, by some counts the fourth-highest in the world.
For a country where people usually die surrounded by relatives, COVID-19 was particularly cruel, as loved ones were taken off alone in plastic tents, to die alone in isolation.
“The only thing I could say to him was, ‘Do everything the doctors tell you,’” Gina Olvera said of her father, who died of coronavirus. “That was the last thing I was able to say to him.” Olvera said she told her father, as she taped his photo to the memorial, “Well, you didn't make it, but you are here with us.”
One woman wept as she pinned up a photo of a female relative. Another, Dulce Moreno, was calm but sad as she pinned up a photo of her uncle and her grandfather, Pedro Acosta Nuñez, both of whom died of complications of COVID-19.
“The house feels empty now without him (the grandfather), we feel lost,” Moreno said.
Observances include entire families cleaning and decorating graves, which are covered with orange marigolds. At both cemeteries and at home altars, relatives light candles, put out offerings of the favorite foods and beverages of their deceased relatives.
There was a special altar in downtown Mexico City dedicated to those who died of COVID-19. Relatives were allowed into a fenced-off plaza and offered equipment to print out photos of their loved ones, which they could then pin, along with handwritten, messages on a black wall.
It was a quiet, solemn remembrance in a country where coronavirus deaths touched almost all extended families.
Mexico has over 288,000 test-confirmed deaths, but probable coronavirus mortalities as listed on death certificates suggest a toll closer to 440,000, by some counts the fourth-highest in the world.
For a country where people usually die surrounded by relatives, COVID-19 was particularly cruel, as loved ones were taken off alone in plastic tents, to die alone in isolation.
“The only thing I could say to him was, ‘Do everything the doctors tell you,’” Gina Olvera said of her father, who died of coronavirus. “That was the last thing I was able to say to him.” Olvera said she told her father, as she taped his photo to the memorial, “Well, you didn't make it, but you are here with us.”
One woman wept as she pinned up a photo of a female relative. Another, Dulce Moreno, was calm but sad as she pinned up a photo of her uncle and her grandfather, Pedro Acosta Nuñez, both of whom died of complications of COVID-19.
“The house feels empty now without him (the grandfather), we feel lost,” Moreno said.
For most, it was a joyful return, above all, to public activities like public altars and the Hollywood-style Day of the Dead parade that Mexico City adopted to mimic a fictitious march in the 2015 James Bond movie “Spectre.”
“These days are not sad here; they are a way to remember our dead with great happiness,” said Otilia Ochoa, a homemaker who came along with dozens of others to take pictures of the flower-decked offerings near the coronavirus memorial. “What is good is to recover this liberty, this contact we had lost” during the pandemic, Ochoa said.
Tens of thousands of Mexico City — almost all wearing masks, despite the city's relatively high vaccination rate — gathered along the city's main boulevard Sunday to watch the parade of dancing skeletons, dancers and floats.
There were few references to coronavirus in the parade, but there was a whole section of skeleton-dressed actors representing Mexico City's street traders and vendors.
“We are here to celebrate life!” Mexico City Tourism Secretary Paola Felix Diaz said in kicking off the parade.
More risky group activities like Halloween-style costume parties and trick-or-treating have still not recovered from the pandemic. But children took the opportunity to dress up in Mexico-style Day of the Dead costumes as skull-like Catrinas, or as red-clad guards from the Netflix series “Squid Game.”
But Mexico has long had a different attitude toward death, more social, more accepting than in many parts of the world. Wakes and funerals here are often elaborate, days-long events gathering entire neighborhoods and extended families for eating, praying and remembering.
“These days are not sad here; they are a way to remember our dead with great happiness,” said Otilia Ochoa, a homemaker who came along with dozens of others to take pictures of the flower-decked offerings near the coronavirus memorial. “What is good is to recover this liberty, this contact we had lost” during the pandemic, Ochoa said.
Tens of thousands of Mexico City — almost all wearing masks, despite the city's relatively high vaccination rate — gathered along the city's main boulevard Sunday to watch the parade of dancing skeletons, dancers and floats.
There were few references to coronavirus in the parade, but there was a whole section of skeleton-dressed actors representing Mexico City's street traders and vendors.
“We are here to celebrate life!” Mexico City Tourism Secretary Paola Felix Diaz said in kicking off the parade.
More risky group activities like Halloween-style costume parties and trick-or-treating have still not recovered from the pandemic. But children took the opportunity to dress up in Mexico-style Day of the Dead costumes as skull-like Catrinas, or as red-clad guards from the Netflix series “Squid Game.”
But Mexico has long had a different attitude toward death, more social, more accepting than in many parts of the world. Wakes and funerals here are often elaborate, days-long events gathering entire neighborhoods and extended families for eating, praying and remembering.
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