Day of the Dead
Oaxaca,
Todos los Santos    
Day of the Dead Altar in Oaxaca
The Day of the Dead Festival is a three day November
holiday when families prepare the tombs for the return of
the spirits.  During this time flowers play an important role
in decorating the tombs and home altars. Families leave
offerings for the spirits in the home and at the cemetery.
Cemetery Visits
A visit to the cemeteries near Oaxaca on the first two nights of November can be a magical time because
of the thousands of candles and the marigolds and cockscomb flowers that  decorate the tombs. Each
village celebrates at different times and with different intensity but the evenings are sure to be unique as
families come to the graveyards to sit by the tombs and wait for the spirits to return.
Day of the dead or Todos los Santos means All Souls Day in the
Christian tradition. In Oaxaca, Flowers and candles make the
cemeteries mysterious places during the November vigil for the spirits.
Strangers are welcome in the cemetery.
In the family-oriented villages all members will spend the day decorating the tomb. At the plaza in the
village of XoXo a huge altar decorated with candles and flowers, fruit and candy was a community effort.
In the cemetery of XoXo Cotlon, families prepare the tombs by cleaning and decorating them with
candles and flowers. They sit by the tombs in a night vigil of waiting for the spirits of loved ones to return
In the town of Tlalixtac south of Oaxaca City the families sit by
the decorated tombs while brass bands move through the cemetery
In the Etla Valley north of Oaxaca City, villagers
stage a play in which they visit houses and on
this one night, possessed by the spirits,  they
can insult even the highest officials.
Competition for the best offering (ofrenda)
or sand painting attracts visitors to
Oaxaca's village of XoXo.
Competition for the best altar
at Oaxaca's ,main cemetery.
www.SoftSeatTravel.com
The Day Of The Dead
in Oaxaca, Todos los
Santos,  is something
special.
The indigenous have
celebrated for
centuries by going to
the cemetery in the
dark of night and
decorating the graves
with thousands of
candles. They then sit
by the gravestones in
a night vigil. The men
gather and chant as
the scent of copal
incense and the
perfume of marigold
flowers fills the air.

It starts in the
afternoon of the last
day in October when
the families go to the
cemetery to clean and
prepare the tombs.
In the pedestrian-only streets, sand painters do their work while Oaxaca's hotels,
restaurants and shops  decorate their entryways in a friendly competition  and
restaurants feature the Regional cuisine of Oaxaca.
Soft Seat Travel