Día de Muertos

When people die in Mexico, they are gone in body but can come back when the veil between the living and the dead gets thin in late October and early November. If you saw Coco, you got a pretty good primer on this and you know these guys are planting the cempasuchil, the mexican marigold, to guide the dead back and forth across the bridge that separates us.

These portraits were made in the pantheon (cemetery) in Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán on Nov 1, 2019.

He looks lonely, but he's not exactly helpless. Note the machete beside him. There's also a small army of his kids and grandkids decorating the grave and getting their own gateway ready for their returning loved ones.

One of the many street vendors offering food and fun for a few pesos on the wide, grassy church grounds in Tzintzuntzan.

Local police offering free face painting in the town square in Tzintzuntzan.

Tzintzuntzan has some pretty fabulous pyramid ruins (yácatas) built by the pre-Columbian Tarrascan civilization. A traditional game played in this region by the local Purépecha people is played with the ball pictured above. This ball is soaked in something flammable, is set on fire, and then a rousing game of what kind of looks like street hockey is played with it. It's fiery flight during play represents the passage of the sun through the sky.

This kid's game wasn't quite up to flaming ball stage.

Peyote shaman, drum maker, festival vendor.

Another kind of drummer. This guy was part of a hippie group that played and danced. They were very reminiscent of Austin in some ways!

One of the street/festival food vendors. Mammoth comal for cooking over a fire in a barrel.

Street bars pop up frequently at these festivals. These folks were doing a very brisk business.

Street vendor stirring the atole, a delicious hot corn-based drink. We encountered it first in San Miguel de Allende.

The large pantheon (cemetery) in Tzintzuntzan getting ready for the return of their loved ones that night.

Our friend, Mira, and a chihuahua who camped out in her lap for a few minutes.

Sunset at the panteón (cemetery) at Cucuchucho, Michoacán. This one was my favorite. I met some very kind people there that evening.

Musician playing for Día de Muertos in the town of Santa Fe de la Laguna. This was a unique town in that the festivities don't happen in the cemetery here, but in people's homes. The whole front room of the house is repurposed as a giant altar for their loved ones. Musicians play in the square to bring the music inside the homes.

This was the most elaborate altar I saw in Santa Fe de la Laguna. The guy who was returning that night is pictured on the wall. . . and then again dressed in his own clothing sitting below the picture. Fruit was piled as high as my shoulder in this room. Flowers were everywhere. The family had made huge amounts of food and were offering to feed everyone who stepped into the door.

Another of the street musicians, both a singer and a fiddler.