About Día de los Muertos
What is Día de los Muertos?
Día de los Muertos reaches back more than 3,000 years, to the Aztecs and other indigenous peoples who celebrated the cycle of life and death with festivals of remembrance.
When Spanish colonization arrived, these traditions blended with Catholic holy days—All Saints’ and All Souls’—and took root in the Mexican calendar as the three days from October 31 to November 2.
Today, the celebration lives on in San Juan Bautista, La Ciudad de la Historia—a town that understands how the past breathes through us still. The Mission bells have tolled here for over two centuries, calling people to gather, to pray, and to remember. Día de los Muertos fits naturally into this place where memory is woven into every sandstone wall, every street, every story.
At the heart of the tradition is the ofrenda—an altar of remembrance adorned with marigolds (cempazúchitl), candles, food, drink, and photographs of loved ones. These offerings are not objects of worship, but symbols of love and memory.
In San Juan, they stand as reminders that those who walked before us—our families, our ancestors, our community builders—are still part of our story.
The festival is both solemn and joyful. It is a time for prayer and reflection, but also for music, dancing, laughter, and food. As playwright Luis Valdez has often said, to honor our history is to honor those who came before us. In San Juan Bautista, Día de los Muertos is not just a party. It is a living bridge—between past and present, the living and the dead, memory and celebration.
When is Día de los Muertos?
October 31st
Preparation
for the holiday
This is often considered the first day of the holiday. Families will often begin preparation and may dedicate the day to the souls of the unborn, the forgotten, or the lonely, depending on the regional tradition.
November 1st
Día de los Inocentes
All Saints’ Day
Officially starting the holiday, Día de los Innocentes (day of the innocent) is dedicated to remembering and honoring the deceased infants and children. Families construct an ofrenda with the departed child’s favorite snacks, candies, toys, and photographs to encourage a temporary reunion. The names of the departed children are also often written on a calavera.
November 2nd
Día de los Muertos
All Souls’ Day
On the second day of the celebration, families honor and celebrate the lives of deceased loved ones, who are believed to return to visit during this time. It is common to visit cemetaries and to decorate relatives grave’s with cempazúchitl (marigolds), calaveras, food, and gifts. In recent years, people come together in their cities, often dressed up with calavera painted faces for parades in the streets.
How is Día de los Muertos celebrated?
Altar
The altar serves as an offering, providing a welcoming space with photos, favorite foods, drinks, and mementos, creating a beacon of remembrance and a symbolic bridge between the living and the dead.
Every ofrenda also includes the four elements: water, wind, earth and fire. Water is left in a pitcher so the spirits can quench their thirst. Papel picado, or traditional paper banners, represent the wind. Earth is represented by food, especially bread. Candles are often left in the form of a cross to represent the cardinal directions, so the spirits can find their way.
To make your own altar, watch the video below.
Ofrenda (Offering)
The ofrenda or offering, is used to refer to the items that are placed on the altar for spirits. Each ofrenda is unique to the family and the person being honored, reflecting the deceased’s favorite foods, drinks, and belongings.
Calavera
A calavera is a representation of a skull, most commonly an ornate, colorful, and edible sugar skull placed on an ofrenda to honor deceased loved ones.
Pan de Muerto
Also called “bread of the dead” is one of most associated foods with Día de los Muertos and can vary greatly from region to region. It is often placed on the altar but can also be consumed and dunked in coffee or hot chocolate.
Cempasúchitl
Commonly also reffered to as marigolds, are a flower used in Día de los Muertos altars and to decorate graves. It grows plentifully at this time of year in Mexico and its pungent odor is said to attract the spirits who come to visit their mortal loved ones on this day. This flower, used since ancient times for its medicinal properties, brings a unique color to the shrine that makes the spirits feel joyful and peaceful. You can find them in orange and purple, representing the earth and grief, respectively. They are also thought to guide the spirits thanks to their potent and fresh scent.
Copal
Copal incense has been used in Mesoamerica since ancient times and continues to be burned in special ceremonies, often placed on or near Día de los Muertos altars to invite the spirits. The word “copal” comes from the Náhuatl word copalli, meaning “incense.” Derived from the copal tree, this incense symbolizes the transition from the physical to the spiritual—transforming from the tree’s material form to the ethereal smoke that rises upward. In pre-Hispanic civilizations like the Aztecs and Mayans, copal was burned in clay incense holders as an offering to the gods, a gift to nourish and connect with the divine. It was offered to the four cardinal directions and to the Sun, ensuring the people’s protection and expressing gratitude for the harvest.
Copal was also used in energy-cleansing rituals, including temazcales, and in the preparation of protective or purifying remedies. During Día de los Muertos celebrations, it is placed in altars to purify the space, allowing the spirits of the departed to enter homes safely.
Papel Picado
Decorative cut paper is a staple in Mexican celebrations, adorning holidays and fiestas alike. For Día de los Muertos, it’s typically placed around the edges of the altar, bringing a burst of color to the scene. Part of the tradition of Día de los Muertos, is representing the four elements (water, wind, earth and fire) on the altar. With the use of papel picade, it helps symbolize the element of air.
Learn how to make papel picado at home!
Tapete de Arena
In certain regions of Mexico, sand sculptures or tapestries, known as tapetes de arena, play an important role in the celebration. These intricate designs are crafted from sand, pigment, and sometimes additional materials like seeds, beans, flower petals, and sawdust. While they often depict religious themes, they more commonly represent death in a playful, lighthearted way.
Calaca
“Calacas” is a Mexican Spanish slang term for skeleton, and they are central to Día de los Muertos decorations. The phrase “La Calaca” is sometimes used to personify death itself.
Creative Commons: Free SVG
La Catrina
La Catrina
La Catrina is a female skeleton dressed in the fashion of early 1900s high-society women, created by Mexican lithographer and illustrator José Guadalupe Posada. Originally, Posada used the image to satirize contemporary figures, turning them into skeletons as a form of social commentary. Today, La Catrina has become an iconic symbol in Día de los Muertos decorations and celebrations.
Comparsa
A carnival-like celebration where people dress in costumes and dance, comparsas are a key feature of Oaxaca’s Día de los Muertos festivities. During these celebrations, the costumes are often wildly creative and full of surprises.
To learn more about Comparsa’s check out Oaxaca’s Gran Comparsa from 2019.
Monarch Butterflies
Monarch butterflies are an important symbol in Día de los Muertos, as they are thought to carry the spirits of the departed. This also lies in the fact that the butterflies migrate to Mexico each fall, arriving just in time for November 1st, coinciding with the start of the celebration.
Xoloitzcuintli Ceramics
It was once believed that the Xoloitzcuintli, an ancient and endemic dog breed, would guide the spirits across the Chiconauhuapan river to the Underworld. In the past, it was common to bury a Xolo with the deceased, so its spirit could lead them on their journey. Today, placing a ceramic Xolo or any representation of the dog is enough, so no need to worry.
Why is Día de los Muertos so special to San Juan Bautista?
In La Ciudad de la Historia, we honor the dead with flowers, music, and love—so their spirits walk among us still.
San Juan Bautista is rich with history, the city was founded with the establishment of Mission San Juan Bautista, by Spanish under Fermín de Lasuén. After the Mexican secularization of 1833, the town was briefly renamed San Juan de Castro before it was incorporated in 1896. Today, San Juan Bautista is a popular tourist destination, home to the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park, several key historic sites, and cultural landmarks such as El Teatro Campesino.
In 1972, Luis Valdez, often credited with bringing Día de los Muertos into the cultural spotlight in the United States, organized the first celebration in San Juan Bautista, California, with his theater group, El Teatro Campesino. For Valdez, the holiday wasn’t just about remembering loved ones—it was also about reclaiming and celebrating Chicano identity.
What started as a lesser-known tradition, soon grew into a vibrant community event, complete with parades and gatherings. At first, some of the older residents looked on with a mix of curiosity and amusement, but over time the celebration took root and became a beloved tradition.
This year, San Juan Bautista is growing their Día de los Muertos celebration. The celebration includes a special mass for the passed Indigenous and others who have deceased, as well as a Mission procession, blessings for the dead at the Cemetery, another procession with El Teatro Campesino and their La Banda Calavera, and a Celebraacíon de Vida on Washington Street.