Day of the Dead S2

Starter: What, if anything at all, do you know about the celebration called 'El día de los muertos'?

Additional challenge: Draw something (a small picture or symbol) of something you think best represents this festival.

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Día de los Muertos

s2 Culture

Research challenge - Find the answers to these questions: 1. What is the Dia de los Muertos? 2. Where is it celebrated? 3. How is it celebrated? 4. Name 3 traditions of the festival. 5. What foods are related to the festival and what are they?

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The Mexican fiesta of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, takes place over the first two days of November. It is a Catholic Christian ritual intermixed with folk culture and going to mass is an essential aspect of this celebration.

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The occasion is festive, rather than morbid. The day of the dead fiesta is not only a chance to remember relatives and friends that have died but to celebrate their life and celebrate being alive.

The traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas, honouring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favourite foods and beverages of the departed. They will visit the graves with these as gifts. Visitors also leave possessions of the deceased at the graveside.

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Marigolds (flor de cempasúchil) are displayed to guide spirits. These bright orange flowers are traditionally placed on the ofrenda but can be seen everywhere throughout the holiday. The strong scent of the marigolds is meant to attract spirits back to their living relatives' homes

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Día de Muertos is not the same as Halloween. Although the holidays happen around the same time and both include skeletons and skulls in their decor, they have very different origins. Halloween originates from the ancient Celtic holiday Samhain and many October 31st traditions, including carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating and dressing up in scary costumes, come from that part of the world

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Papel picado, colorful tissue paper with cutouts, adorn Day of the Dead celebrations. These are more than ornamental. The thin paper represents the delicate nature of life, and the perforations in the tissue allow for souls to pass through for their visit.

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Day of the Dead is celebrated with sugar skulls. The calavera (or skull) is a central image of Día de Muertos, and one key element of every celebration is the sugar skull. These decorative candies are placed on the ofrenda as an offering to the dead—especially to the children who have passed on — and they are given out as treats.

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It's customary to wear La Catrina-style makeup and costumes. La Catrina is the inspiration behind the sugar skull makeup and costumes worn to celebrate the holiday.

If you keep the memory of your ancestors, they will live forever in your heart

Thank you for honoring our traditions...

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Happy Day of the Dead

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