10 Ways to Celebrate Dia de los Muertos This Year

Dia de los Muertos is approaching, and it’s time to start planning how you’re going to celebrate this major holiday. Colorful decorations, delicious food, and rich costumery await — but what’s the best way to celebrate? 

In this guide, we’ll take you through some of our favorite ideas of how to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. We’ll cover traditions, food inspiration, fun ideas, and some of our best-loved Dia de los Muertos party invites. 

What Is Dia de los Muertos?

Dia de los Muertos is a cultural holiday that honors the dead. The name of the holiday is Spanish for “Day of the Dead,” and it’s a rich part of Mexican culture. 

The Day of the Dead’s origins date back thousands of years to the Aztec and Nahua peoples, and it has long been celebrated in Mexican and Latin American culture. The holiday takes place every year between October 31 and November 2 (overlapping with All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2). It’s a celebration of life and death — a time to honor departed loved ones not with sadness but with joy, excitement, and color. 

How to Celebrate Dia de los Muertos

The tradition of celebrating the Day of the Dead lives on. Here’s how to honor the day with traditions, cooking, visitations, and more. 

1. Build and Decorate Your Ofrenda

The ofrenda, or altar, is a central part of any Dia de los Muertos celebration. These altars aren’t for worship, though: They’re to honor your lost loved ones and make them feel comfortable and welcomed during their journey back to the living for the holiday. 

Find a cozy corner of your home and build your ofrenda. This typically features multiple levels — the top for photos and items to remember your loved ones by, and the bottom for a delicious offering of food and drink. The Day of the Dead altar is typically adorned with a colorful tablecloth and cut paper decorations known as papel picado. Marigolds are the flower of choice, and the display also usually includes brightly colored fruit. 

The ofrenda should be sure to feature all four elements: earth (food), water (a jug of water), wind (papel picado), and fire (candles). It’s common to showcase personal belongings from your departed relatives, along with offerings of pan de muerto (bread of the dead) and their favorite meals. Decorative crafted calacas (skulls) and sugar skulls are often included as decoration. 

2. Make and Hang Papel Picado

Papel picado is one of the most memorable decorations that you’ll see around the time of Dia de los Muertos. These colorful banners are a beautiful part of Mexican culture and are used for both decoration and symbolism during the holiday. 

These decorations are made from sheets of tissue paper with designs cut in. They’re often created hundreds at a time with a chisel or mallet, but can also be made one by one with scissors — making them an ideal children’s art project. 

3. Bake Bread of the Dead

Another element you’ll see on the ofrenda is pan de muerto, also known as the bread of the dead. This sweet pan dulce bread topped with an orange sugar glaze is placed upon the ofrenda or served during a Day of the Dead feast.

Pan de muerto isn’t complicated, which means you can make it a family tradition to bake it together. Follow a traditional recipe passed down through the generations, or try this pan de muerto recipe if you’re new to baking this delicious bread.

4. Serve a Delicious Feast

Food is a key theme within Dia de los Muertos. Although much of the focus is on providing a wonderful collection of dishes for the ofrenda, you can also enjoy dining on some of these classic dishes yourself.

Pan de muerto is a staple of Day of the Dead dinners, along with tamales, mole, and tortilla soup. Calaveras (sugar skulls) make an ideal sweet treat, as do caramel tarts and traditional alegrias candies. When it comes to drinks, hot cocoa is a popular choice. 

5. Honor Departed Loved Ones

Dia de los Muertos is a time for remembering departed relatives, so be sure to plan some activities to honor them and bring their memories alive. 

Honor your family members’ favorite foods, place their treasured belongings on your ofrenda, and introduce younger members of the family to their favorite hobbies, interests, or music. Sing songs about their life and recount stories from the past. Don’t forget to lay out a pillow and blanket in your home, too, for your lost relatives to rest after their long journey back to the living. 

6. Dress in a Traditional Day of the Dead Costume

This holiday is known for its richness of colors, so it’s no surprise that the traditional dress and costumes follow suit. Bold colors, intricate details, and flowers are all commonplace in Dia de los Muertos outfits. 

Women traditionally wear a beautifully embroidered dress known as a Puebla, or they might choose a brightly colored maxi dress, along with a floral headpiece. Men often wear an elegant dark suit and a large brimmed black hat. Many people will have their face painted in the style of calaveras — with white face paint, dark eyes, and a detailed skull-like design. 

7. Visit the Graves of Loved Ones

While many people visit the grave sites of lost loved ones on the anniversaries of their death, on Dia de los Muertos the graveyard is a place that really comes alive. 

Many families visit the graves of relatives over the holiday period to be close to their family members. Graves are decorated similarly to ofrendas with bright marigolds, sugar skulls, small gifts, and pan de muerto. The area is lit with candles, and the graveyards are filled with a sense of celebration. 

8. Include Children in the Celebrations

Even though the holiday references death, there’s no reason to keep young children away. Dia de los Muertos offers children of all ages lots of wonderful ways to engage with the holiday, feel close to their deceased relatives, and express their creativity. 

Get younger family members involved with Day of the Dead celebrations like preparing pan de muerto or calaveras. Have them help set up and decorate the ofrenda or the grave site. Encourage them to try making their own papel picado or let them enjoy craft activities that teach them about the holiday. 

9. Travel to an Organized Dia de los Muertos Event

Lots of families choose to host their own private celebrations for Dia de los Muertos or plan a party over the holiday. If you don’t want to play host, heading to a community organized event or celebration is a great way to honor the holiday. 

Major cities in Mexico like Mexico City and Oaxaca have thriving holiday celebrations, as do U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles. Explore what Day of the Dead festivities are happening near you, or plan a road trip to experience something new. 

10. Be Respectful of Culture and Traditions

You may have heard about Dia de los Muertos from popular works of art, like José Guadalupe Posada’s famous La Calavera Catrina etching or the Disney movie “Coco.” Perhaps you’ve seen people in colorful outfits with their faces painted like skulls. Whatever your route to learning about the Day of the Dead and your interest in celebrating it, the key is to be respectful. 

El Dia de los Muertos is a cultural celebration — one that shouldn’t be imitated or adopted out of context or as a Halloween party theme. If the event is culturally significant to you, celebrate it in your own way and honor the traditions that feel relevant to you. If you’re invited to celebrate alongside one of your friends, do so respectfully and learn about the customs and history of Dia de los Muertos before you do.

Colorful Invites for Your Dia de los Muertos Celebration

If you’re throwing a party to celebrate the holiday, you’ll need some colorful Dia de los Muertos invites to match. Our online invitations are perfect, as they let you customize everything from the color options to the wording.

Here are some of our favorite Dia de los Muertos celebration invitations. 

Sugar Skull Invitation

Design: Ashley Ottinger

This sugar skull invitation features one of the most well-known elements of Dia de los Muertos — the calaveras. Choose from four traditionally inspired color options, or ask our designers to make your own color palette a reality.

Sketched Skull Invitation

Design: Signature Greenvelope

The metallic effect on this sketched skull invitation is gorgeous and makes it ideal for a more sophisticated take on a Dia de los Muertos party. This design is available in gold, rose gold, or black and white to match your theme. 

Marigolds & Sugar Skulls Invitation

Design: Signature Greenvelope

Add some playfulness to the moment with this marigolds & sugar skulls invitation. While this example is styled as a birthday party invite, you just need to change the wording to make this the perfect Dia de los Muertos party invite. 

Celebrate with Color This Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos is all about honoring and remembering our lost loved ones. We do this through food, drink, stories, music, and costume. Use this guide to help you find some new ideas for your next Dia de los Muertos celebration or to remind you of some favorite traditions. 

If you plan to host a party for the holiday, explore our Dia de los Muertos invitations. Each features beautiful illustrations of sugar skulls and more, with the option to customize to suit your event perfectly.