Celebrating the Day of the Dead in San Miguel de Allende

Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead is an annual celebration honoring loved ones and ancestors that have died. Typically Día de los Muertos is a two day celebration throughout Mexico. November 1st is el Dia de los Inocentes or Día de los Angelitos (Day of the Innocents \ Little Angels) and is for celebrating and remembering  children and infants who have died. November 2nd is Dia de los Muertos or All Souls Day and is for honoring ancestors and loved ones who have passed away. 

Dia de los Muertos is a big deal in San Miguel with fireworks, parades, much drinking and lots of people with face paint and costumes for the occasion. The Day of the Dead has its origins in Aztec traditions honoring the dead which date back thousands of years. Instead of treating death as something to fear, the Aztecs celebrated it. 

Images of skulls representing the dead are part of the Día de los Muertos celebrations. People paint their faces in skeleton motifs, children feast upon painted candy skulls and skulls are often part of the altars or ofrendas that loved ones make to welcome home the dead.

During the days of the dead, families visit the grave site and spruce up the tombs and decorate the graves of loved ones. Often candles, flowers, and the favorite foods of the deceased are placed on the grave. There is music, tequila and mezcal, and lots of food. Families visit, eat, sing, and tell stories about their deceased loved ones. Altars also feature orange marigolds, the Aztec’s flower of the dead, whose scents are thought to be loved by the spirits of the dead and help to invite them back home.

Ofrendas to the Dead - Click image to enlarge

We celebrated this unique holiday in San Miguel de Allende with one added twist – since there are so many ex-pat Americans and Canadians living in San Miguel it becomes a 3 day holiday with the inclusion of Halloween on October 31st.  As a way of giving back to the community ex-pats gather at the Jardin Allende and pass out candy to the local children who dress up in costumes and make their rounds gathering up tasty treats.

Halloween costumes - Click image to enlarge

Face painting stations were set up around the city.

And for face painting and costumes taken to an art form there was a fashion parade.

It seems to me that a fiesta celebrating your loved ones who have died and inviting them to come back for a visit once a year on Nov. 2nd is a healthy attitude towards death. I suppose both mourning and celebrating have their place but I prefer the idea of honoring past lives by celebrating in the present. It seems to me that the Dia de los Muertos tradition of celebrating your loved ones is more my style than sadly mourning over the grave site of your loved ones on Memorial Day.

Faces from the Day of the Dead - Click image to enlarge

In Mexico the Days of the Dead are truly a celebration of life. Children learn to respect that life is brief, to enjoy the moment, and know that there is a circle to life and death is not to be feared.