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Halloween Holiday in Mexico

By Jennideep Hayre

Posted: 12th October 2012 10:35

If you thrive off the Halloween spirit and have no qualms with spooky traditions then Mexico should be top on your list of places to visit during the Halloween period. 

Celebrating Halloween in Mexico isn’t about the fright element compared to other places; it is an ancient Aztec tradition celebrating the dead in a joyous way and is taken extremely seriously. 

Mexican culture is renowned for celebrating and remembering deceased family members and share a strong connection with the afterlife – the Halloween holiday is when these rituals come to life.

On October 27th is the Fiesta de las Santas Animas (Feast of the Holy Souls) where families begin the fiesta by cleaning their relatives’ graves and adorning them with flowers and pine needles. 

They then assemble a temporary altar near the gravesite stocking it with candles, food and sometimes alcohol and take turns talking to the departed, offering it food and assuring it that it is loved. 

Universally, October 31st is the main day of celebrating Halloween but in Mexico it is the first of several Halloween festivities.La Noche de las Bbrujasis the night of the witches when you will findmost children dressed up as witches and rarely other costumes like vampires or zombies.

Unlike the conventional “trick or treat” you open the door to in Western cultures, in Mexico you are met with the phrase Queremos Halloween which means “We want Halloween.”

Then comes two consecutive days referred to as Los Dias de los Muertos which translates to “Days of the Dead” – November 1st is All Saints’ Day.  The following day, November 2nd is All Souls Day. 

In Mexico, people have picnic lunches on the graves of their deceased relatives and make bread for the dead (“pan de muerto) and candy in the shape of skulls, skeletons, caskets and crossbones. 

People also light bonfires, set off firecrackers and hang lanterns on trees to help guide the souls of the dead back home. 

This is a Halloween experience like no other that we recommend you partake in at least once in your life. 

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