10 · 05 · 23

Night of the Dead in Michoacán

In the months of July and August, the plowing of the land to plant the seed of the cempasúchil flower begins. In Michoacán the flowers grow in Tarímbaro, a town located 8 miles from Morelia.

The sowing is in charge of the community and the families who prepare for the rainy season so the “Cempohualxochitl”, word of Náhuatl root that means “twenty flowers” or “many flowers,” can bloom.

With the cempasúchil flower, the festivity begins, the weather grows cold, fall starts and with its arrival we get ready to end the year, but before the end of the cycle, we meet again with our deceased in the Fiesta de las Ánimas (Festival of the Souls), on November 1 and 2.

A celebration dedicated to our dead who never cease to be with us and whom we were born to be with. Because as it is said in Macario (1960, dir. Roberto Gavaldón): “We spend much more time dead than alive. After all, in this life we are all born to die.”

The devotion to death translates in colorful ofrendas, candles lighting the altars, food shared with those who are no longer with us, and other rituals, reason why in 2008 the Day of the Dead was recognized by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Without a doubt one of the most meaningful destinations to bring together life and death is Michoacán, state that this year plans 600 activities around the 22 municipalities, 37 lakeside communities, the four docks at the Lake Pátzcuaro and independent communities such as Cherán, Janitzio, Jarácuaro and Santa Cruz Tanaco.

Among the activities confirmed by Roberto Monroy, Secretary of Tourism of Michoacán, is the presentation of the Symphonic Orchestra of Michoacán (Osidem) performing the Day of the Dead Requiem, on Tuesday, November 1 at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Salud (Basilica of Our Lady of Health) in Pátzcuaro.

In Lake Pátzcuaro, a wake for the dead will be celebrated, in which locals and tourists join the graves that were previously cleaned and decorated for their beloved ones. A very unique celebration is the Purépecha ballgame, in which the warriors light the way to the cemetery of Tzintzuntzan.