Mexico celebrates Days of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos on November 1st and 2nd, which was marked via a Google Doodle on Wednesday.
The Day of the Dead—what is it?
Day of the Dead events pay tribute to the deceased. The two-day celebration unites the living and the dead as families erect memorials to remember their departed loved ones.
Ofrendas are set up on altars with marigold flowers, sugar skulls or calaveras, photographs of the deceased, and their favourite meals and beverages.
The history of differentiation
Mexico and other Latin American countries celebrate Día de los Muertos on November 1st and 2nd, honouring the deceased. People decorate family tombs and shrines for afterlife ties. Many villages celebrate the Day of the Dead colourfully. Zombies dance, sing, eat, and drink in town squares and communal centres.
Longtime Mexican custom The Day of the Dead is celebrated by American Latinos. Chicano artists and activists empowered Mexican-Americans with Day of the Dead in the 1970s and 1980s.
Read More: History and Celebration of a Happy Halloween in 2023
Latinos in the US joyfully celebrated it separately from Halloween. Many non-Latinos mistook Day of the Dead for witchcraft because of skull and skeleton imagery. Latinos promote “Día de los Muertos is not Mexican Halloween” to dispel misconceptions, educate the public, and fight discrimination.
Mexico’s tourism industry pushed Day of the Dead abroad throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Visitors to Mexico learned that Día de los Muertos is a national holiday, not Halloween.
How do people commemorate the Day of the Dead?
Celebrations for the Day of the Dead differ. Grand parades and events are rare in most places. At home, families make small shrines that are adorned with marigold flowers and sugar skulls, known as cempazúchitl.
To celebrate at home or during the funeral, friends and family bring the deceased’s favourite foods and beverages. “Ofrendas” are these altars.
Hollywood’s impact
Mexico’s Halloween carnival makes Día de los Muertos worse. After dressing up for the Day of the Dead, kids beg their neighbours for candy all week. Kids shout “Queremos Halloween!” at candy sellers. Panteón de Dolores, the nation’s largest cemetery, decorates its graves with spider webs, pumpkins, vampires, and witches on November 2.
Hollywood blended Day of the Dead and Halloween. Many Mexican presidents are buried in the Panteón de San Fernando. The cemetery hosts “Night of the Living Dead” every year. Hundreds of people dress up and visit President Benito Juárez’s mausoleum on Day of the Dead to see zombies consume sweets in a small American town.
Halloween scary films significantly impact Día de los Muertos celebrations nationwide. The annual Great Day of the Dead procession, known as the Gran Desfile de Día de Muertos, attracts an estimated one million spectators. It is a parody of “Spectre,” and its popularity has grown since 2016.
During Halloween, skeleton clothes and sugar skull makeup are fashionable. Many people dress up like Jigsaw, Pennywise, Chucky, Ghostface, and other “Saw” characters.
Michael Myers was the most worn Halloween costume in 2022. It is logical. The most recent episode, “Halloween Ends,” was warmly appreciated in Mexico. One of the best Halloween/Day of the Dead films ever made in Mexico Mexico earned the third-highest amount of ticket sales out of the 70 countries where the movie was released.
What distinguishes the Day of the Dead from Halloween?
Because of their similar dates and gloomy ambiance, Day of the Dead and Halloween are sometimes confused in Mexico. Day of the Dead and Halloween serve similar goals, even though they are quite different holidays.
Halloween is a day to glorify death over life. It all began in Ireland.
Trick-or-treating, costume parties, creepy house décor, and terrifying costumes are some of the practices associated with Halloween. There are raucous Day of the Dead traditions, like personal family memorials.
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