Día de los Muertos

What actually happens

Ofrenda — a tiered altar of photo, water, salt, copal and the dead person's food. Cempasúchil paths — marigold petals laid from the grave to the front door.

• 01Ofrenda — a tiered altar of photo, water, salt, copal and the dead person's food.
• 02Cempasúchil paths — marigold petals laid from the grave to the front door.
• 03Calaveritas de azúcar — sugar skulls, eaten, not merely displayed.
• 04La Catrina — Posada's 1910 etching, now the festival's definitive silhouette.

Sound of the crowd

Mariachi at gravesides, son jarocho in Veracruz, and marimba in Chiapas. The repertoire is nostalgic rather than celebratory — 'La Llorona' and 'Cucurrucucú' recur on every stage.

How it survived

UNESCO inscribed the tradition on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2008, specifically citing the indigenous-African fusion in the observance. Commercialisation arrived quickly afterwards; the parade, the face paint industry and the tourism boards followed within a decade.