Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead [better source needed] is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember amusing events and anecdotes about the departed. It is widely observed in <a href="/facts/Mexico/IT5bwhdh">Mexico</a>, where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. The observance falls during the Christian period of <a href="/facts/Allhallowtide/dtMzawbs">Allhallowtide</a>. Some argue that there are <a href="/facts/Indigenous_Mexican/ChgUdWdQ">Indigenous Mexican</a> or ancient <a href="/facts/Aztec/Tn5vj064">Aztec</a> influences that account for the custom, though others see it as a local expression of the Allhallowtide season that was brought to the region by the Spanish; the Day of the Dead has become a way to remember those forebears of Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead is largely seen as having a festive characteristic. 
Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using <a href="/facts/Calavera/FYQeXzWj">calaveras</a> and <a href="/facts/Tagetes_erecta/C05jGLIQ">marigold flowers</a> known as cempazúchitl, building <a href="/facts/Home_altar/n8PKESn6">home altars</a> called <a href="/facts/Ofrenda/s3Ee4HFz">ofrendas</a> with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased. The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional <a href="/facts/Pan_de_muerto/UPQmGwhR">pan de muerto</a> with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock <a href="/facts/Epitaph/jQ5jpQ3f">epitaphs</a> dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as <a href="/facts/Literary_Calavera/0mBrYSLd">calaveras literarias</a>.
In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the <a href="/facts/Representative_List_of_the_Intangible_Cultural_Heritage_of_Humanity/JvtrpV7P">Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity</a> by <a href="/facts/UNESCO/QSbkRv3o">UNESCO</a>.

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Day of the Dead