What is Dia de Muertos? The event celebrates past lives and the celebration of the continuity of life. During the celebratory period families will set up ofrendas in their homes. These altars will have flowers and calaveras with photos of past loved ones. Many families will spend the day visiting the graves and cemeteries of their loved ones. Halloween has morphed into the celebration, but typically November 1 is All Saints Day and honors deceased children. And November 2nd is All Soul’s Day and honors deceased adults.
La Calavera Catrina is the colorful, artful skull you will see everywhere. There are also decorated sugar skulls that can be consumed. But the real deal is the Pan de Muerto. Pan de Muerto, or Bread of the Dead, is a delicious, sweet, sugar-dusted bread that you can find in all bakeries and grocery stores. One piecer of the bread will cost 10 to 20 pesos, or you can get a cake-sized portion for about 70 pesos.
We had no idea what to expect for Dia de Muertos, so I hope to help the next gringos partaking in this event for the first time. The day before Halloween the local market near Centro adds about 100 vendors. You can buy flowers, halloween masks and some very basic face paint, candles, the sugar skulls and calavera catrinas, as well as the delicious pan de muerto.
The last Sunday in October clocks rewind back an hour, so it goes from getting dark at 7:30pm to 6:30pm. Also, the last week in October things look so much different in the area. Mid-October is beautiful, but still considered low season. Late October turns to high season. Restaurants you didn’t know existed now have tables and chairs set up in front of what you would have thought was a house a few days earlier. The restaurants that are open year round, now have more than 1 table of customers at breakfast, lunch and dinner. All of the sudden you are passing other gringos on the streets as they head to and from their casas to the beach and town. It’s a fun time to be here. Everything is green. The “rainy season” of August and September give way to clear skies and the cool ocean breeze.
All over town you will see signs advertising Dia de Muertos events and when and where they occur. On October 31 there was a big party in Centro around the basketball court. We were happy to have purchased face masks earlier that day. There were so many kids and young adults with painted faces that evening. We made a terrible mistake and did not bring any candy. It was Halloween, after all. We probably had 20 kids dressed up in adorable costumes come up to us and say, “Trick or Treat.” We disappointed a lot of children. The party lasted from 7pm until about 9pm. There had to be a few hundred people dressed up in amazing outfits on the court, with at least 1,000 people seated and watching the festivities.
The next day there was a small band along with a group of dressed up children that marched along Colonia La Madera to a stage at the end of the road. The “parade” started right next door to our casa, which worked out perfectly. Once again we were short on candy. I finally purchased 30 suckers, but it was too little too late. At the end of Colonia La Madera and the parade route there was a face painter, and about 20 vendors selling food. Another screw up on our part. We ate at Reuben’s Hamburgers right before heading down the road. Which was fine, except I much prefer homemade street food. The second night was a little more low key, as some kids did a performance on stage with a few hundred in attendance. It lasted from about 7pm until 9pm as well.
The third night of Dia de Muertos took place in Ixtapa and we did not attend. November 2nd is a national holiday, so most Mexicans have the day off. Over the entire week, many homes, schools, and businesses set up elaborate ofrendas at their front entrances. Some are obviously paying tribute to loved family members that have passed away. But some are not. We saw an ofrenda for Michael Jackson.
Most weekend nights in Centro Zihua are pretty fun with street food, music, and games for kids. But Dia de Muertos definitely turned it up to another level. We’ll be better prepared next year.