1. El Día de Los Muertos

2. People go door-to-door sharing their grief with neighbors. Families who have lost loved ones during the year are visited by the group, who are offered food and gifts in appreciation.

3. El Día de Los Muertos Flowers, especially marigolds, are very important to the Day of the Dead traditions. This man prepares a cart to sell flowers.

4. El Día de Los Muertos Dying flowers adorn this grave as Day of the Dead approaches. Soon, the old flowers will be replaced by new ones.

5. El Día de Los Muertos Children prepare for the festivities by decorating paper maché masks. At the end of the three-day celebration, the children will wear the masks and parade through the streets to “scare” the dead back to the underworld.

6. El Día de Los Muertos Relatives prepare the graveyard in Mixquic, Mexico by cleaning the gravesites of their deceased loved ones.

7. El Día de Los Muertos This man uses the old flowers as a broom to sweep dust off the grave of his deceased relative.

8. El Día de Los Muertos Marigold petals and other small flowers are used to create colorful mosaic designs on many of the graves. Fresh mud is often applied to the gravesite as a temporary “glue” to hold the flower petals.

9. El Día de Los Muertos During the Day of the Dead celebration, the graveyard is filled with flower petal mosaics. The graveyard in Mixquic is filled with people working at the graves.

10. El Día de Los Muertos The graveyard in Mixquic is consumed with activity as relatives prepare for the celebration.

11. El Día de Los Muertos Papel Picado is strung across the courtyard at the Cristobol Colon school. This intricately cut paper is a traditional decoration in Mexico.

12. El Día de Los Muertos As evening approaches, family members light candles around the gravesites.

13. El Día de Los Muertos Family members spend the night of November 2nd at the graveyard. Relatives honor the deceased members of their families by visiting their graves, making offerings to the dead and reminiscing about the past.

14. El Día de Los Muertos During the Day of the Dead celebration, vendors line the streets to sell food and trinkets to the visitors. This woman is selling traditional sweet breads.

15. El Día de Los Muertos A young woman is dressed in a skeleton costume to celebrate the spirit of the day.

16. El Día de Los Muertos The cemetery at Mixquic, Mexico is filled with light during the evening. Families surround the graves with candles and spend the night honoring their deceased relatives.

17. El Día de Los Muertos Marigolds are very important to the celebration. This man uses the petals to create a special mosaic design on a gravesite.