The smell of banana leaves and achiote fills Yucatecan kitchens each fall as families prepare for Hanal Pixán, the region’s deeply rooted celebration honoring those who have passed. Unlike Day of the Dead festivities in other parts of Mexico, Yucatán’s version centers on a distinct collection of traditional foods that connect the living with departed…
Mérida’s beloved Festival de las Ánimas is getting a major makeover this year. Mérida officials announced exciting new features for the 2025 celebration, which runs October 25 through November 2 at venues throughout the Yucatecan capital. The festival celebrates Hanal Pixán, the region’s unique take on Mexico’s Day of the Dead traditions. Unlike celebrations elsewhere…
As the weeks continue to fly by, Yucatecos are eagerly awaiting the arrival of one of the region’s favorite holidays, Hanal Pixán — Yucatán’s version of Día de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
Under the cloak of night, the shaman asks permission for the souls to go out to the earthly world. The atmosphere is enveloped by the smell of incense, the mystery that death entails, and after the ceremony, the spirits emerge. In General Cemetery, the souls of several children materialize and share the fire of their…
As Hanal Pixán draws near, communities across the Peninsula have begun to promote their upcoming festivities.
Mérida is getting ready to celebrate the traditions of Hanal Pixán and Day of the Dead. The sprawling annual Festival de las Ánimas stretches from Tuesday, Oct. 24 to Thursday, Nov. 2. Starting Sunday, Oct. 29, the city’s monumental altar will be erected on the Plaza Grande. But more personal altars will appear along the…
Some 50,000 people participated Friday in the Paseo de las Ánimas, a pre-Hispanic tradition of the Mayan people that is being kept alive in Mérida thanks to local families. (Video: See our unique take on 2022’s Paseo de las Ánimas) One participant told a European news agency that “It is a tradition that will never…
To the eyes of outsiders traditional bone cleaning may seem strange or even macabre, but for the people of Pomuch, it is a way to reconnect with their dearly departed and celebrate their ancient ancestry.
In Mexico, we have this saying that goes “En Mexico nos reimos de la muerte,” which translates as “in Mexico we laugh at death.”
With Dia de Los Muertos — or Hanal Pixán, as it is known in Yucatán — just a couple of weeks away. Mérida’s City Hall has announced a slate of events featuring processions, cultural events, movie screenings, food fairs, pet adoption drives, and lots more. Check out the full event calendar below and start to plan…
If you want to understand the line-up of the altar, here’s a list of some of the traditional dishes you may encounter.
Everywhere you went you could not but overhear the conversations of spectators, all making the same observation: that it was so great to see so much color and life on Mérida’s streets again.
It is a mixed altar, honoring both adults and minors. For this reason, it is decorated with both black and colored candles, as well as toys. It displays multiple vases with traditional marigolds — cempasúchil flowers, and palms, as well as photos, traditional dishes, and memories from the departed.
In certain municipalities, like Motul and Kanasín, cemeteries started welcoming guests who come to prepare the graves of their deceased.
The news comes as a disappointment for many who thought that a return to yellow on Mexico’s epidemiological traffic light system would mean more of a return to normal for public events.
El Paseo de las Ánimas, the wildly popular street procession that marks Hanal Pixán, or Day of the Dead on Nov. 2, is dead this year. Gone too are the display of altars which have traditionally lined Merida’s Plaza Grande, to honor the dead. But the General Cemetery, which is traditionally fixed up and visited…
More than 67,000 costumed face-painted people took part in this year’s Paseo de las Ánimas.
Merida, Yucatan — Hanal Pixan celebrations have become something worth flying to, if you can find a plane ticket. Airfares from Mexico City to Merida, even on low-cost airlines, are up to 75 percent, and it is virtually impossible to purchase a ticket to the city on some dates, reports Sipse. Demand is mainly due…
A yearly tradition for 10 years now, thousands of souls took a long, candlelit walk from the General Cemetery to the San Juan Arch.
Wednesday’s Paseo de las Ánimas, which in recent years attracted tens of thousands of participants, requires several road closures hours before the procession begins.
Towering skeletons and dancers bounded along Mexico City’s main avenue to celebrate its third annual Day of the Dead parade.
The Camino de las Flores, a floral exhibition that transforms a city street into a colorful flower path, returns Sunday, Oct. 28, in time for Hanal Pixan.
With Hanal Pixan approaching, the General Cemetery is visited by friends and family of the departed who are buried amid its colorful jumble of modest and grandiose tombs.
The Festival de las Ánimas (Festival of Souls) 2018, which will be held from Oct. 24 to 31, celebrates Yucatán’s unique take on the Day of the Dead.
That’s all for now
That’s all for now