For the past two days, people in Mexico and other Latin American countries have been celebrating Día de Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, paying homage to departed family members and honoring death as a part of life. After many cancellations last year due to the pandemic, this year parades and processions took place once again in Mexico City and other towns. The parades feature representations of the character La Catrina, frightful skeletons, and other icons of death and the underworld. Gathered here are a few images from Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, El Salvador, and more.
Celebrating the Day of the Dead, 2021
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![A woman wearing skull makeup and a flowery costume walks in a parade with others in costume.]()
Read moreA woman dressed as La Catrina participates in a parade during the Day of The Dead festival in Guanajuato, Mexico, on November 1, 2021. Considered one of the most popular celebrations in Mexico, the Day of the Dead takes place every year on November 1 and 2. #
Leopoldo Smith / Getty -
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![People gather in a cemetery at night, among flowery decor and candles.]()
Read moreRelatives spend the night next to the tomb of their loved one during Day of the Dead festivities at the the Arocutín cemetery in Michoacan state, Mexico, on November 1, 2021. In a tradition that coincides with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, families decorate the graves of departed relatives with flowers and candles, and spend the night in the cemetery, eating and drinking as they keep company with their deceased loved ones. #
Eduardo Verdugo / AP -
![A giant cardboard skull and its skeletal shoulders and hand appear to emerge from a neighborhood street.]()
Read moreA giant cardboard skull and skeletal hand are displayed in a street in the Santa Cecilia neighborhood of Mexico City, ahead of the Day of the Dead celebrations, on October 30, 2021. #
Claudio Cruz / AFP / Getty -
![Colorful skull decorations are displayed at a market.]()
Read moreSkull decorations are displayed at Tlacolula Market ahead of Day of the Dead on October 31, 2021, in Tlacolula, Mexico. #
Cristopher Rogel Blanquet / Getty -
![An aerial view of a skeletal figure made up of flowers placed in a plaza.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of a figure of La Catrina made with 18,000 cempasúchil flowers, on display at the Church of Santa Prisca in Taxco, Mexico, on October 27, 2021. #
Daniel Cardenas / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![People gather beside enormous colorful kites before they are flown.]()
Read morePeople prepare to fly a giant kite during the All Saints' Day commemoration, on the eve of the Day of the Dead, in Santiago Sacatepéquez, about 30 miles west of Guatemala City, on November 1, 2021. #
Johan Ordonez / AFP / Getty -
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![Women in colorful costumes pose for a photo during a festival.]()
Read moreWomen pose for a photo during Day of the Dead celebrations in Santiago Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, on November 1, 2021. #
Sandra Sebastian / Reuters -
![A family stands near a table of food offerings, and a portrait of a deceased family member.]()
Read moreFamily members pose for a picture next to an altar with the image of Henry Zevallos, who died from COVID-19, on the eve of the Day of the Dead, in Puno, southern Peru, on November 1, 2021. Every November 1, the ancestral custom of the so-called Tómbola is carried out in the city, through offerings to deceased relatives, with a table of the various dishes that were their favorites in life. #
Carlos Mamani / AFP / Getty -
![A young person with skull makeup on their face stands near a torch at night.]()
Read moreA reveler looks on during "La Calabiuza" celebrations in Tonacatepeque, El Salvador, on November 1, 2021. "La Calabiuza," also known as Day of Ayote, has been celebrated every year in Tonacatepeque for more than a century. #
Roque Alvarenga / APHOTOGRAFIA / Getty -
![A performer dances while wearing a large skull mask with horns.]()
Read morePerformers in costume take part in the Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City on October 31, 2021. #
Daniel Cardenas / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A woman is photographed in ornate skeletal makeup and costume.]()
Read moreA woman participates in the celebration of the Day of the Dead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, on October 30, 2021. #
Richard Vogel / AP -
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![Performers in skeletal costumes march in a parade.]()
Read morePerformers in costume march in the Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City on October 31, 2021. #
Daniel Cardenas / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Performers dressed as wrestlers with giant skull heads take part in a parade.]()
Read moreTwo performers dressed as the Mexican wrestling legends "El Santo" and "Blue Demon" perform during the annual Day of the Dead parade on October 31, 2021, in Mexico City. #
Adrián Monroy / Medios y Media / Getty -
![People wade in the surf on a beach, some carrying religious figures.]()
Read moreDevotees walk into the sea with figures of Santa Muerte during a gratitude ceremony for favors received at the beach of Puerto Juárez in Cancún, Mexico, on November 1, 2021. #
Elizabeth Ruiz / AFP / Getty -
![A person reaches down to pick a flower among many other flowers.]()
Read moreA woman collects cempasúchil marigolds to be used during Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations at San Luis Tlaxialtemalco nursery, in Xochimilco, on the outskirts of Mexico City, on October 28, 2021. #
Edgard Garrido / Reuters -
![Several people pose for a photo alongside giant skull art installations.]()
Read moreWomen pose for a picture during the exhibition "Fridacráneos," consisting of giant skulls painted in honor of the late Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and exhibited as part of the Day of the Dead celebrations at the Revolution Monument in Mexico City on October 29, 2021. #
Claudio Cruz / AFP / Getty -
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![People sit on broad steps beside a makeshift altar lit by candles.]()
Read moreWomen sit next to an altar that they set up in memory of victims of femicide before the Day of the Dead in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on October 31, 2021. #
Jose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters -
![A man plays a guitar in a cemetery.]()
Read moreA musician walks in the Valle de Chalco municipal cemetery as people begin to arrive to pay their respects to their dead, on the outskirts of Mexico City, on October 31. 2021. #
Foto AP / Marco Ugarte / AP -
![Members of a family gather around a grave.]()
Read moreMembers of a family gather around a grave to remember their relatives as part of the 2021 Day of the Dead celebration in Oaxaca, Mexico, on November 1, 2021. #
Manuel Velasquez / Getty -
![People watch as a Mariachi band passes by on a river in a city.]()
Read moreA woman watches a mariachi band play aboard a float during the Day of the Dead River Parade on October 29, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. #
Brandon Bell / Getty -
![Performers in colorful feathery costumes dance.]()
Read moreAztec dancers participate in a ritual dance procession for the Day of the Dead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in Los Angeles, on October 30, 2021. #
Richard Vogel / AP -
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![A person is seen wearing face makeup looking like a skull.]()
Read moreA person made up for the Day of the Dead is photographed in La Paz, Bolivia, on November 1, 2021. #
Gaston Brito / Getty -
![Flowers and candles are placed next to several graves.]()
Read moreCempasúchil flowers and candles are placed next to graves at the Xoxocotlán cemetery in Oaxaca, Mexico, on November 1, 2021. #
Cristopher Rogel Blanquet / Getty
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