Experiencing Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico, was my favourite ever travel experience and my highlight of 2023. I had never experienced such a magical and beautiful celebration before, and the most moving part of the entire festival was visiting the cemeteries on the 31st of October.
What is Day of the Dead?
Day of the Dead, or Dia de Muertos, is celebrated across Mexico to remember loved ones who have passed away. It is believed that, during this time, the gates separating the underworld from the world of the living are briefly opened, and so the deceased can rejoin their families for two days.
One of the most traditional places to celebrate Day of the Dead is Oaxaca City and I have an entire blog post going into more detail about the celebration, and the best things to do in Oaxaca during this time, here. https://onheradventures.com/2023/12/22/ultimate-guide-to-day-of-the-dead-in-oaxaca/
Why do people visit cemeteries?
It is believed that, at midnight on the 31st October, the gates to the world of the living are opened. During the evening, families gather around graves, making sure that they are decorated with orange marigolds, candles, and the favourite food and drink of the deceased, to guide the souls of the dead to the right place.
You will see adults preparing bunches of flowers, and children running around, relighting candles that have blown out like their lives depend on it! There are also large bands playing outside the entrances to the cemeteries to further help guide the souls of the dead.
At midnight, when it is believed the deceased can reunite with their families in the world of the living, you will find families singing and celebrating. Mariachi bands will be playing and, if you are lucky and are being respectful, you might even be offered shots of tequila or mezcal as locals offer to include you in their celebrations.
The experience is an absolutely beautiful and unique evening to be a part of.
How to visit Xoxocotlan
There are several cemeteries around Oaxaca City, and even a few smaller ones within the city that you can walk to such as Panteon General, a 20-minute walk from the centre of Oaxaca. However, the best cemeteries to visit are the ones in Xoxocotlan, a 15-minute drive away.
If you are staying in a hostel or hotel, ask them to book you a taxi and agree on a price so that you aren’t overcharged. You shouldn’t pay more than about £5/100 pesos each way per taxi. The taxi will take you as close as it can to the cemetery, but a lot of nearby roads will be closed off for the event, so you might have to walk the last 5 minutes.
It can be hard to know exactly where to go, especially because the names on Google Maps aren’t always the same names that the locals say! The largest cemetery and the one I recommend you spend the most amount of time in is called Panteon Xoxo or Panteon Mictlancihuatl on Google Maps. Another smaller cemetery I also recommend visiting close by is called Panteon Viejo on Maps, locals also call this one Panteon Antiguo.
Once you get close to the right area, you won’t be able to miss the main cemetery. The streets around it are lined with food stalls selling delicious treats such as tacos, churros and crepes, and the streets are full of decorations and orange marigolds. There is also a stage and band outside the main cemetery (Panteon Xoxo).
Once you get inside the cemetery, there is mostly a happy feeling. A majority of families are seen chatting and laughing whilst organising the flowers and decorations on the graves of loved ones. There were a few families that did seem more sombre, perhaps if the deaths had been more recent. Be respectful, consider the mood of the family you are walking past, and always ask before you take any close-up pictures.
My recommended itinerary
You will have a beautiful evening no matter how you spend your time at the cemeteries on the 31st, but this is what my evening was like!
We booked a taxi to Xoxocotlan through our hostel at about 8.30 pm and arrived at 9 pm. We were dropped a few blocks away from the cemetery and followed the crowds and bunches of flowers, we soon arrived in the streets lined with food stalls but resisted for now and headed straight to Panteon Xoxo.
We wandered around this cemetery for about an hour, taking it all in. I lost the group I was with at one point and didn’t even bother trying to find them because there was something so magical about walking amongst the graves on my own without chatting. I felt so emotional, and it made me think of my own loved ones who have passed away.
We left the cemetery and sat down with some tacos and beers for an hour, then headed towards Panteon Viejo. This is a smaller cemetery and was slightly less crowded, there is a ruin of a chapel in the centre that still houses some graves. The band outside this cemetery were playing beautiful music and it really sounded like they were trying to guide the souls of the dead to this area. We spent about half an hour in here and then walked back to the main square.
It was about 11:30 pm, we grabbed a drink and a crepe and sat on the grass outside the main cemetery listening to the music coming from the stage, waiting for midnight.
It is believed that at midnight the souls of the dead arrive. The music stopped at exactly 12:00 and we wandered back inside the cemetery to see how the families were celebrating. The mood had picked up a little bit, but don’t suddenly expect a rave in the grave! It didn’t feel like a party as much as I had read about online and I suspect those accounts may have been exaggerated slightly. However, families had stopped organising the decorations on the graves, and some were embracing, singing along to mariachi bands, and offering out mezcal shots. It really was an amazing experience to be a part of.
At about 1 am we walked back to the main road where the taxi had dropped us off and we were able to flag down a taxi pretty easily.
The evening that I spent at the cemeteries in Xoxocotlan was probably the most beautiful and magical evening of my entire life. I think this is such a lovely tradition to honour the dead and I wish we did something similar in the UK! Don’t miss out on such a unique experience if you are in Oaxaca for Day of the Dead!
