OAXACA - Dia De Muertos

I cannot really capture in words how truly fantastic the Dia de Muertos celebration is in Oaxaca. After a delayed departure from Puebla, we arrived in Oaxaca on Halloween about an hour after nightfall. We checked into our new favorite airbnb, and our host Victor told us that if we hurried to the city's Panteon General, we might be in time to catch the celebrations there.


The graveyard was filled with people, and the crypts that lined the walls were adorned with candles.


We were told that when the rather sedate gathering at the Panteon General ended, the real party would be starting a twenty minute drive away in Xoxo. When we arrived, we could not believe what we found-



This is probably the least freaky scenario that could be conjured from spending Halloween night walking through a graveyard. Flowers and candles everywhere. Music, family, smiling faces. Ah, Mexico.



The festival continued for the next two nights, in the graveyards and in the city streets amongst the living, and the fashionably painted to resemble the not so alive.



Nothing to see here but a giant ghoul on wheels-


The streets were packed with people long into the night-


Some Muerto-related street art


Before we end with some more music, a few of the Altares that people made to honor the deceased.
One of our favorites was dedicated to a Lucha Libre wrestler-


The following was dedicated to a theater director-


And this was just a spooky, diorama-esque display that we liked-

And here to play us out is one of the roving bands that entertained the calaveras, fantasmas, drag queens, and tourists long into the night-



Until next year, Descansa bien, Muertos.