As a long-term resident of Mexico (4 years already!), the thing I love most about Mexico is its vibrant and exciting traditions. With Dia de los Muertos (or Day of The Dead) being at the top of that list, I have so much respect and love for this time of the year.
You’ll learn later on in this article that this celebration is best spent in very specific parts of the country.
But, if you just so happen to be in The Riviera Maya over The Day of The Dead where the celebration isn’t really fussed over, your best chance of getting an authentic-ish experience, is at the Day of The Dead Festival at Xcaret Park.
What is The Day of The Dead
Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition which is celebrated each year in Mexico over the last few days of October and the first few days of November.
As the celebration falls over the period of Halloween, a lot of people just assume that it’s pretty much the same thing, but it is not.
Where a lot of the Western world thinks of death as a morbid and depressing topic, death is actually celebrated in Mexican culture.
There is a belief that when someone dies, they transit to an afterlife, where they join their families and pets who have also passed.
The three (sometimes a bit more) days of the Day of The Dead celebrations give people the opportunity to connect with their loved ones on the other side and pay tribute to their lives.
How do you celebrate the day of the dead in Mexico?
It’s important to keep in mind that the celebration is slightly different in each state of Mexico, but there are a few key elements that stay the same; the offrenda, pan de muertos and a good old fiesta.
We’re going to break down each of these elements, to paint a picture of how a typical Mexican family would celebrate this day.
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The "Ofrenda" (The Offering)
This is essentially like a shrine that will be on display either at the house, or at the grave. The shrine typically has a ton of marigolds (fragrant orange and pink flowers), which are believed to guide the spirits home.
It will also have photos of the deceased. Keep in mind that a lot of these shrines will be made in honour of multiple family members, so you’ll likely see ofrendas with multiple pictures.
And most importantly, the things that the deceased loved most – typically food (for sustenance), drinks (usually their favourite beers) and trinkets that represent interests or hobbies.
The offrenda usually goes up in mid-October and is kept up for a few days after the celebration has ended.
Pan de Muerto
Translated to ‘bread of the dead’. The easiest way to tell if The Day of The Dead is approaching is by walking into any bakery or supermarket and finding ‘pan de muerto’.
This Mexican pastry is only made and sold around the period of The Day of The Dead, which makes eating one seem so special. The ‘bread’ is fashioned into a bun, with a cross stretching across the top of it and a little ball of dough is placed in the centre.
The shapes you find on top of the bread are meant to represent a skull and bones in honour of the celebration of the dead. The entire pastry is then covered in white sugar, making it extra sweet and delicious.
You’ll likely find many variations of pan de Muertos, like ones that have been filled with Nutella, or even drizzled in chocolate but those are not authentic.
The "Fiesta"
While not all families will throw a big party in honour of The Day of The Dead, most will still gather at their offenders and recite fond memories of their loved ones.
Depending on where you are in Mexico, you may very well find huge parties, parades and concerts celebrating this event.
The best place celebrate the day of the dead in Mexico?
We can’t tell you the best place to celebrate The Day of The Dead in Mexico as we’ve only been to a handful of places over this period, but generally, these are the spots that tend to host big events and parties over this period: Mexico City, Oaxaca, Michoacan and Yucatan.
Unfortunately, in The Riviera Maya, we’ve realised that most families completely forgo celebrating this special day and instead celebrate Halloween, which should tell you how much of an impact gentrification has had on the region.
It’s quite sad to see this loss in cultural identity, but thankfully there are still many regions of Mexico that still honour this incredible celebration.
That being said if you just so happen to be in The Riviera Maya over The Day of The Dead, there is still a way to experience an authentic-ish version of the celebration.
Each year, the Xcaret Park throws a celebration called The Festival of Life And Death, and this is definitely the best place to be if you’d like to partake in events.
P.S. Although we haven’t been to many of the best regions for Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, we were so fortunate to experience it in the state of Michoacan in 2022.
You can watch those YouTube videos here, where you’ll see how fun and vibrant the celebration is. If you’ve got a chance to visit Patzcuaro over this period, we’d highly recommend doing so!
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Where to go in Playa del Carmen for Day of The Dead
As we mentioned above, you won’t easily find a ton of fun and authentic Day of The Dead activities to partake in, within Playa del Carmen but that doesn’t mean you’ll completely miss out on the celebration.
The only place we know of in Cancun, Tulum or Playa del Carmen that makes a big deal out of The Day of The Dead is Xcaret Park, so this is where you’ll want to be over this period.
The Festival of Life and Death will be taking place at Xcaret Park from October 30 to November 3, 2024. We’d recommend getting your tickets as soon as you can because they limit ticket sales.
We celebrated The Festival of Life and Death at Xcaret Park in 2023, and it was a ton of fun.
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The Festival of Life and Death at Xcaret Park
Each year, Xcaret hosts The Festival of Life and Death and showcases the traditions of a specific state within Mexico, so each year the celebration is completely different.
When we attended the event in 2023, the park was hosting the state of Queretaro. This year, the festival will be showcasing Quintana Roo, which is awesome!
The Xcaret Park invites vendors and performers from the guest state, who then travel to Quintana Roo to sell their crafts and food, and set up their own ofrendas around the park. As the guest state is Quintana Roo, you can expect to find food from the region, which is kind of boring for locals of Playa del Carmen but pretty cool if you’re a visitor.
You’ll also be able to witness beautiful cultural shows and concerts, specifically put on to highlight the guest state of the year.
P.S. To learn more about Xcaret Park, which is basically like The Disney World of Mexico, you can read the blog post
The Festival of Life and Death activities are only accessible from the late afternoon into the evening at Xcaret Park. This is important to know because it will help you to decide which tickets are best for you.
There are two ways to experience the Day of The Dead celebrations at Xcaret; by purchasing a day and night ticket, or by purchasing a night ticket.
The Day and Night Ticket
This ticket will give you access to Xcaret Park at opening (8:30 am), and will allow you to enjoy the park all day long. You’ll also be able to gain access to the festival of life and death within the park from the late afternoon.
If you’ve never been to Xcaret Park before, this is our recommendation, as you get the best of both worlds – Xcaret Park by day and The Festival of Life and Death by night.
The only downside to this option is that you’ll miss out on the Mexico Espectacular show in exchange for attending the Day of the Dead festivities, which is a real shame.
The Mexico Espectacular show runs every evening of the year at Xcaret Park and is regarded as one of the best cultural shows in the country. This show is included with your regular ticket to Xcaret Park.
📸 You can watch the Mexico Espectacular YouTube video here
We highly recommend getting a two-day Xcaret Pass if your schedule and budget allow. This way, you can enjoy the park for over two full days.
Watch Mexico Espectacular one night and celebrate the Day of the Dead the next. This would be our top suggestion!
Underground River at Xcaret Park
Cultural Performance at Xcaret Park
The Night Ticket
If you’ve already been to Xcaret Park before and don’t feel the need to do it again, you can just attend The Festival of Life and death at a more affordable price.
With the night ticket, you’ll be able to gain access to Xcaret at 4 pm, where you’ll then gain access to certain areas of the park, like the cemetery. You be able to spend the rest of the evening enjoying all that the Festival has to offer.
This includes cultural displays, a night market with local artisans, traditional food, concerts and the ability to view many beautifully decorated ofrendas.
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Is The Festival of Life and Death worth it?
Our answer to this is yes, but also, not really.
If you’ve never experienced an authentic Day of The Dead celebration, then we would absolutely recommend this festival.
It will allow you to try delicious food (top-notch pan de muertos included), see beautiful ofrendas and witness gorgeous cultural shows and performances.
However, as we’ve experienced The Day of The Dead in a much more authentic part of Mexico (Michoacan), we can’t say we were blown away by The Festival of Life and Death at Xcaret Park.
Don’t get us wrong, we are so glad we went, and would definitely do it again. However, if you’re looking for a truly authentic experience of the celebration, we just feel that this festival felt a little ‘manufactured’.
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How to get the most out of your experience at Xcaret Park
If you’ve never been to Xcaret before, we’d highly recommend planning a full day (and night) for the park. And if you’ve never heard of the park before, you can think of it as the Disney World of Mexico.
Of all the Xcaret Parks, this is the primary park and perfect for travellers of all ages.
The beach at Xcaret Park
Cultural Shows at Xcaret Park
Your ticket includes access to over 50 activities, including underground rivers, snorkelling, animal sanctuaries, cultural shows and so much more! There are also a ton of paid activities available, like parasailing and swimming with manatees.
We would recommend getting the Xcaret Plus admission, as this includes access to additional areas in the park and lockers, which are a real game-changer. You can also enjoy a buffet lunch at any of their on-site restaurants, which is important since you won’t be allowed to bring any outside food into the park. There are snack kiosks available, which sell sandwiches and wraps, so this is also an option if you’d prefer to go for the regular Xcaret Admission.
If you’re visiting Xcaret Park over The Day of The Dead, you’ll be able to enjoy all the night-time festivities, however, this means you’ll have to skip Mexico Espectacular, which is easily one of the best cultural shows in Mexico. To enjoy the best of both worlds, we’d recommend getting the 2-day pass for Xcaret, which will allow you to enjoy two full days of fun in the park, Mexico Espectacular, and The Festival of Life and Death.
🌴 Thinking of visiting Xcaret Park? Read this blog post next!
Our top tips for The Day of The Dead at Xcaret Park
Over the period of The Festival of Life and Death at Xcaret, they team up with the local bus company, ADO, to provide additional and affordable transportation to and from the park.
To get to the park, you can purchase your ADO ticket online, or at the station. On the way back, you’ll find an ADO kiosk right at the exit of the park, where you’ll be able to buy your return bus ticket. The buses run every 30 minutes or so and have more than enough capacity, so you can easily purchase your ticket upon departure without having to worry or rush.
Next, you’ll want to go in hungry. The local vendors were all selling incredible food, and you’ll definitely want to save some space for Pan de Muerto. The pan de muertos we got at Xcaret was easily the best we’ve ever had!
And lastly, we assumed that they’d have Catrina (skeleton) painting available, which they didn’t. They did however have some communal black and white paint to do your own face – but I don’t how hygienic that is. If you do really want to get all dressed up and have your face painted, you’ll need to do that outside the park. Sometimes, you’ll find people doing catrina painting on 5th Avenue, or you may need to find someone on Instagram who is offering their services.
We hope we answered some of your questions about celebrating The Day of The Dead at Xcaret Park – let us know if you have any questions below 👇 If you enjoyed this, please share it – via WhatsApp, Pinterest or even with a friend 🫶
