Experience the traditional Day of the Dead celebration in Xcaret Park!
Xcaret Park honors this great event, declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003, by hosting and celebrating the Festival de Vida y Muerte (Festival of Life and Death Traditions)!
Every year on October 30th and 31st and on November 1st and 2nd, visitors are able to attend this amazing celebration. This year will be the 11th time the Festival de Vida y Muerte has taken place at Xcaret Park!
The Day of the Dead
The Day of the Dead is an age-old tradition that is still celebrated today. It dates back to pre-Hispanic times when the indigenous people worshiped death and conceived it as a duality of life, part of the cycle of nature. During the traditional dates, Mexicans celebrate the dead, they visit the cemeteries and mount altars both at the burial sites as well as in their homes, while waiting for their deceased loved ones to return to this world for a brief moment.
The Day of the Dead altars are commonly made up of food, candles, incense, liquor, flowers, photographs, music and personal belongings of the deceased; these are placed as offerings by family members and loved ones to remember those who have passed.
A traditional Day of the Dead altar in the Festival de Vida y Muerte.
The Festival de Vida y Muerte
At the 11th edition of the Festival of Life & Death traditions, Xcaret Park will bring together the traditions of the Yucatan Peninsula with the central Mexican state of Puebla, allowing visitors to experience the customs and culture of different regions of the country. Throughout the festival, there will be exhibitions, offerings, plays, dances, tours, and concerts that will celebrate both life and death.
Among the personalities participating in the Festival, is the singer Lila Downs, who will give a concert “Balas and Chocolate”, based on her new album in which she sings of hope and a better future for all. Also performing will be famed Mexican actor Don Ignacio López Tarso with his work “Between Tombs, living and dead”, accompanied by the northern Mexican musicians “Los Garcia” directed by Maestro Manuel Cervantes and led by the beautiful female voice of Sofia Montano.
The Festival of Life and Death Traditions at Xcaret is full of color, music, and tradition and over the past 11 years has not only earned the reputation of being an important event for those visiting Cancun and the Riviera Maya, it consistently ensures the active participation of society, Mayan communities and artists to incorporate the diversity and cultural richness into the Day of the Dead celebration, by recapturing ethnic, traditional and contemporary practices around this millennial and beautiful Mexican tradition.
