Day of the Dead in Guanajuato

Vince and I have wanted to experience a Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico for many years. This fall we were finally able to work it into our travel plans.

We were invited to spend the last weekend in October in Ensenada with our Spanish tutor and a few other students. Once that trip was planned, we decided to extend our time in Mexico and arranged a flight from nearby Tijuana that would arrive in Guanajuato just in time for the Day of the Dead festivities on November 1st and 2nd.

After a fun weekend immersed in Spanish with our friends in Ensenada, we were dropped off at the Tijuana airport. Our plan was to fly to León then take a taxi to our AirBnb apartment in the city of Guanajuato. There were a few delays in the normally three-hour flight, so we arrived in León around one o’clock in the morning. Fortunately, Vince had reserved a room at a Hampton hotel close to the airport for that first night. We had to wake up the taxi driver who was parked outside the airport but he stayed alert long enough to drive us to the hotel.

Several hours later, we stood in front of our hotel staring woefully at the line of stopped vehicles on the highway. There had been an accident earlier in the morning and now our Uber ride was stuck in the traffic and could not make its way to the hotel much less complete the 45-minute drive to Guanajuato. We were stuck!

We were considering other options when a woman came out to sweep the front sidewalk. As usual, we initiated a conversation in Spanish. We explained our dilemma, and asked if there were alternative routes to the city. She replied that there was an atajo or shortcut that could circumvent the traffic jam. I went inside to see if the desk clerk could help arrange a driver and not long afterwards, José arrived. He and Vince negotiated a price for the trip and soon we were on our way! José was very chatty, so we enjoyed a lengthy conversation in Spanish as we wound our way on country roads and arrived in Guanajuato in good time.

This was not our first visit to Guanajuato. We had travelled there in the fall of 2019 before the pandemic. During that visit, we had experienced much of what this small colonial Mexican city had to offer: the tree-shaded jardín lined with restaurants where mariachis competed for customers’ attention, the steps in front of the beautiful, ornate teatro where locals and tourists stopped to rest and chat, the view from the top of the steep steps leading into the local university, the funicular transporting visitors to El Pipila statue at the top of the hill, and the troubadours guiding tourists through narrow streets or callejones while they told jokes, danced, played music, and recounted historical legends. In addition, there were several interesting museums, many shops and cafes, and a huge indoor open market. We planned to repeat all those experiences but our main focus for this trip was the Day of the Dead celebrations!

Guanajuato did not disappoint us. We spent the next couple of days engaged in various activities related to the holiday. Vince had made a list of possibilities drawn from information posted on the city Facebook page. Sometimes those activities happened and sometimes they didn’t. Nevertheless, we were able to catch the highlights, most of which happened on the street at the bottom of the steep callejón where our AirBnb was located.

The first event we attended was a fabulous parade of people dressed as catrinas or skeleton gentlemen and ladies. We had no idea the parade was about to occur but when we saw everyone lining up along the main street, we quickly found a spot with a good view. The parade went on for hours with each skeleton costume more elaborate and beautiful than the last. There were skeleton musicians and dancers, catrina brides, and groups of children in catrina costumes. We were awestruck with the variety and quantity ofcostumes parading in front of us. Later we bought a small catrina statue at the open market as a memento for our trip.

Catrina Parade

We thought nothing could top the parade but the next day we awoke to many groups of young people constructing tapetes de muertos. These colorful mats were formed right on the street using different-colored sawdust to complete the intricate designs. The work continued for most of the morning. Afterwards, we strolled down the street admiring the artistry and workmanship of each incredible tapete.

There were also events happening below the city. Guanujuato has a labyrinth of underground tunnels that were built to reduce above ground street traffic. Cars and buses use the tunnels to easily navigate to various parts of the city. Several of those tunnels were closed off during the Day of the Dead celebrations so displays and craft booths could be set up. Underground music presentations were also scheduled. We checked out the displays during the day and tried to attend one of the music events at night but got turned around in the confusing maze of tunnels, discovered we were going in the wrong direction, and finally gave up.

A Day of the Dead celebration would not be complete without a trip to the cemetery. Traditionally, Mexican families set up food and drink on the tombstones of their deceased loved ones and spend some time celebrating and remembering those who have passed. We had read that a tour of the cemetery and the adjoining mummy museum was happening at 7 pm one evening. We took a long Uber drive through tourist-packed city streets and up the hill to the cemetery and arrived just in time at 6:45 pm. Unfortunately the caretaker told us that the tour “might be happening “ at 8 pm and that we needed to obtain an admission ticket back in town. We decided to skip the event and quickly walked around the spooky, deserted cemetery before the caretaker closed the gates at 7 pm.

Our five days in Guanajuato passed quickly and although the city was crowded with visitors, we were able to avoid contracting COVID. Vince, however, did catch a bad cold and decided to rest in our AirBnb on the last day. Unfortunately, he wasn’t well enough to attend a tour of the city that he had arranged with a local guide, Susana. Instead, I went on the tour by myself and it turned out to be the culmination of our trip. Susana was not only extremely knowledgeable of the history of the city, she was also very personable. I spent three hours traipsing around the city with her and it felt like I had spent an enjoyable afternoon with a friend. Hopefully we will return to Guanajuato in the future and if we do, I want to meet up with Susana again.