Dias de Muertas in Merida, MX

One of the main reasons we headed to the Yucatan at this time of year is to experience the Day of the dead, Dias de Muertas. The Mayan people celebrate the life of their departed during a week long celebration, culminating in public demonstrations and altars in the main squares.

In Valladolid, we were fortunate to witness the altars, it was done by the university students as a bit of a contest. Part of their learning must be to demonstrate some of their culture.

University students milling about waiting for the judging to begin

Great Altar

Food on the altar for the dead, probably the deceased person's favorites

In Merida, we didn't witness any altars, apparently they took them down by 6PM and we didn't get to the main square till after 7, but we did get to see the parade.

The parade of grieving relatives

The grieving were singing what sounded to me like hymns, while around the entire procession there were black and white angels screaming and running. Lots of little kids were scared by it.

La Catarina surrounded by her protectors

This character, we found out later, was a local celebrity/drag queen. She performed at the main square that evening, I think it was comedy....

Once the procession/parade was past us, we headed to the main square, not really knowing what to expect. Every night there is some sort of entertainment, sometimes music, sometimes spoken word performers, cultural dancers etc.

Adrian and I with the Dead Frida Kahlo, he was a great sport

Amazing costume and makeup. these young people were just amazing!

This little girl was just so cute, she was the only child we saw who was dressed up

No idea what the woman with the big black bird represented

The only part of Dias de Muertas that we missed was the public procession to the cemetery, Merida is really big and it would have been a very long walk, the night was extremely hot and humid and we just didn't have it in us to find it that night! We saw more than we had expected though!