Day of the Dead On November 1st and 2nd, the Mexican people celebrate their loved ones that have passed on. The best way to describe this Mexican holiday is to say that it is a time when Mexican families remember their dead and at the same time, the continuity of life. Two important things to know about the Mexican Day of the Dead are: it is a holiday with a complex history, and therefore its observance varies quite a bit by region and bye degree of urbanization. It is no a morbid occasion, but rather a festive time. Generally speaking, the holiday’s activities consist of families welcoming their dead back into their homes, and also visiting the graves of their departed ones. At the cemetery, family members clean up the gravesite, decorate it with flowers, and set out and enjoy a picnic while visiting with other family and community members who gather there. In both cases, celebrants believe that the soul of the dead, the animas, return and are all around them. The meals prepared for the picnics are sumptuous, usually featuring the foods the departed love ones liked, such as the Yucatecan chicken and pork pot pie dish and a special egg-batter bread, “pan de muerto”, or bread of the dead. Gravesites and family altars in the homes are profusely decorated with flowers and adorned with religious amulets and with offerings of food, cigarettes and alcoholic beverages. The traditional observance calls for departed children to be remembered November 1st, the Day of the Little Angels, and for adults to be remembered on the 2nd day called All Saints Day.
