Remembering the Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead features candy sugar skulls as gifts.

Families gather on November 1 and 2 to remember departed relatives.

Home altars called ofrendas hold favorite foods of the departed.

Marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl honor the deceased.

The Day of the Dead uses calaveras to honor departed people.

Celebrants share amusing anecdotes about friends who have passed away.

Writers compose mock epitaphs for living friends called calaveras literarias.

UNESCO added the tradition to its heritage list in 2008.

The Frida Kahlo Museum builds altars for the holiday.

La Calavera Catrina was created by lithographer José Guadalupe Posada.

The holiday remains a national symbol taught in Mexican schools.