Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures.
The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.
It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a bank holiday. The celebration takes place from 31st October until 2nd November.
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, and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave the possessions of the deceased.
The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to a pre-Columbian past. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors had been observed by these civilisations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years.