Returning to Oaxaca for Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead in Oaxaca is a magical experience, especially if you spend it in the villages. This December will mark my twentieth year of being there. I’m thinking about how to celebrate and involve you in the celebration! All ideas and suggestions are welcome. In 2007 i began writing this blog, so another […]
10/30/24 Day of the Dead Tour in Oaxaca: Hands-on Bucket-List Experience
On October 30, 2024, we give you a wide-ranging, immersion Day of the Dead experience of a lifetime! Construct a Day of the Dead Altar. Participate in a workshop using wild marigold botanical dyes. Savor traditional tamales made with mole amarillo with a local Zapotec family. Taste artisanal mezcal. Discuss culture, traditions, and Zapotec history. […]
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Tour: Teotitlan Altars + Studio Visits, October 29, 2023–One Day
No where is Day of the Dead celebrated with more authenticity than in the villages. The artisans we visit in Teotitlan del Valle not only talk about and demonstrate their craft, they will discuss their personal experiences and traditions growing up and honoring their ancestors during Day of the Dead. When you participate with us, […]
Day-by-Day: Remembering Juvenal Gutiérrez, Teotitlan del Valle
In a week we will observe Dia de los Muertos here. In the city, it’s a big party. Many foreign visitors will arrive to eat, drink mezcal and make a rowdy show of Muertos that has become more like Halloween here. In the USA, Halloween — or All Hallows’ Eve — is said to rival […]
Hopeful! 2021 Oaxaca Day of the Dead Culture Tour
October 28 to November 4, 2021 – 7 nights and 8 days, starting at $2,795 We are hopeful! Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico, is meaningful and magical. Celebrations in the villages go deep into Zapotec culture, community, tradition and pre-Hispanic practice. Some say it is the most important annual celebration in Mexico and […]
Oaxaca Day of the Dead Study Tour 2020: Magical, Mystical Muertos in the Villages
October 28 to November 3, 2020 – 6 nights and 7 days, starting at $2,495 Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico is meaningful and magical. Celebrations in the villages go deep into Zapotec culture, community, tradition and pre-Hispanic practice. Some say it is the most important annual celebration in Mexico and here in Oaxaca, […]
Finding Meaning: Day of the Dead Inspiration for Women’s Writing Workshop
We gathered in Teotitlan del Valle on October 30 for the Women’s Creative Writing Retreat to find meaning, reflect on life and death through the written word. Some of us were mourning recent losses: husbands, mothers, fathers, and yes, even self. There are those other kinds of losses as we age, lose memory, become infirm, […]
Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead: Talking With the Ancestors
The altar is complete. Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead– 2018 has passed. The difuntos, spirits of the ancestors, have returned to their resting places content that we have welcomed them back to earth for the day to celebrate their lives. Some of us talk to our parents, ask their advice, admonish […]
Day of the Dead — Dia de los Muertos — Is it Halloween?
Today is Halloween in El Norte, the northern part of North America aka USA. In southern North America aka Mexico, the celebration is very different. And, the border is more permeable so iconic images of carved pumpkins, witches on broomsticks, and the call of trick or treat are becoming part of the Mexican holiday landscape. Catholic […]
Day of the Dead 2019 Women’s Writing Retreat: How Memory Inspires Us
Arrive Wednesday, October 30 and leave Monday, November 4, 2019. The retreat can accommodate up to 10 women. We gather for Day of the Dead 2019 in the traditional Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico to write with intention for five nights and four days. Day of the Dead inspires us to revisit our […]
Happy Halloween and Chicken Pozole for Dia de los Muertos
A friend told me this week that she heard from her Mexican relatives that this time of year offers the most transparent veil in the atmosphere, which is why the spirits can more easily return. Welcome to Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead. We do Halloween up big here in the USA. […]
Explaining Day of the Dead to Friends
Day of the Dead — Dia de los Muertos — is one of the many Mexican holidays that blend Spanish Catholicism with pre-Hispanic, indigenous mystical rites. Despite political rhetoric, with a culturally permeable border, Halloween has crept into Mexico and sugar skulls have crept into the U.S. My friend Sue said, I thought Day of […]
Getting Ready for Day of the Dead in Durham, NC
Durham, North Carolina is a long way from Oaxaca, Mexico — or so it seems. So many Latino families live in our region that while it is not as easy to construct a traditional Day of the Dead altar, it is not impossible. Recently, I discovered La Superior Super Tienda Y Taqueria in the Braggtown section […]
Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, Coming Soon
It’s time to turn my attention to the annual celebration of Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead — when memories return to the people we love who have dropped their bodies and whose souls rest in peace. In this PBS Series, Borders, this story of Latinos celebrating Day of the Dead in […]
Mexico Travel Photography: Day of the Dead Photo Challenge, Norma’s Picks
Mexico Travel Photography Facebook Group of 287 members just finished up submitting a photo a day as part of a five-day photography challenge. Here are the statistics: STATS: Last week’s 5-Day Photo Challenge, Day of the Dead. 39 people participated all week. They posted 136 photos total. 15 people posted 5 days in a row. Congratulations […]
Is Mexico’s Day of the Dead Like Halloween? Muertos Photos in Black and White.
We just finished a week of publishing a Day of the Dead Photography Challenge over at the Facebook site I manage, Mexico Travel Photography. You might want to jump over there to take a look at some amazing shots of this spiritual celebration of life and death. Consider joining and participating if you are not […]
Preparing for Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Dead is coming soon. Festivities in Oaxaca will begin in the next few days, and people are now gathering what they need for home altars to honor their deceased loved ones: palm branches to create an arch over the altar through which loved ones pass from the otherworld — a gateway to […]
Another Year in Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca, Day of the Dead
It’s my habit, practice, custom, wish to leave Oaxaca city at 3:00 p.m. to arrive at the old cemetery (panteon) in Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan by 4:00 p.m. to celebrate Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos. I go there first and spend at least an hour and half in this sacred space. It’s just before […]
The Children: Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico
Children fully take part in Day of the Dead here in Oaxaca, Mexico, too. They are an important part of the ritual and celebration. They go with family members to sit vigil by grave sites regardless of age. Death is an integral part of life here and not to be feared. On October 30 a […]
Day of the Dead in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: Guiding the Disfuntos Home
The bells in the Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca church tower start ringing on November 1 at 3:00 p.m. and continue all night and into the next day, November 2, giving the disfuntos (the visiting souls) the sound to follow home. They follow the trail of scent, sight and sound: marigold flowers, copal incense, simmering […]
Traditional Altars: Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico
After a night spent in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan cemetery on October 31 for Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico, I headed back to the Tlacolula Valley on Sunday morning. I was invited to San Pablo Villa de Mitla by friends Arturo Hernandez and Epifanio Ruiz Perez to visit for Day of the Dead. […]
Marigolds and Altars: Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico
The campo (countryside) is a blanket of tiny yellow flowers called cempasuchitl or wild marigolds that come up in southern Mexico this time of year. It’s less than a week before Day of the Dead here in Oaxaca. Preparations have begun. My friend Guadalupe was at the casita yesterday and she explained that the intense […]
Guide to Day of the Dead in Oaxaca 2015: Top Tips
From October 27 to November 3, you want to be on the streets of Oaxaca and out in the surrounding villages to take in all that this Day of the Dead — Dia de los Muertos — celebration offers. Don’t forget to wander into patio courtyards off the four major city avenues: the Andador Alcala, […]
2015 Day of the Dead Photography Workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico
Oaxaca, Mexico, is the place to be for Day of the Dead and you will capture it with your camera: parades, cemeteries, family traditions, special food and decor, markets, fiestas and faces. Follow the copal incense and marigold trail. Starts Sunday morning, October 30 and ends Thursday night, November 3. Cost: $995 per person. Price […]
Mega Market for Muertos: Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
They tell me tomorrow’s market on October 31 will be even bigger in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, as everyone prepares for Dia de los Muertos. Huge trucks filled with oranges are parked in front of the church. Vendors sell copal incense, at least five different varieties of marigolds, brilliant magenta rooster’s crown, pecans and walnuts, […]
Mystery of Muertos in Oaxaca, Mexico
You may have noticed that I changed the blog banner to a night-time Oaxaca, Mexico, Day of the Dead cemetery scene. Rituals are ancient, family-centered and mystical. Dia de los Muertos will start at the end of October and continue through November 3 this year. In Teotitlan del Valle, the traditional November 2 cemetery ritual […]
Day of the Dead: Parades and Costume Creativity
In Oaxaca, the Day of the Dead parades are called comparsas. On the first day of our seasonal photography expedition, color, sound, and the display of unparalleled costume creativity bombard us. Frank Hunter, whose work was just published in the New York Times, and our instructor for this week, starts the workshop by showing photo […]
Building a Dia de los Muertos Altar: Send Us Your Photos
Wherever you are, I invite you to send me your Dia de los Muertos Altar photos. They should be no larger than 150 KB and sent as an email attachment (any larger and they won’t be considered). One photo per person! They need to arrive in my inbox by midnight, November 1, 2013. I will […]
Day of the Dead 2012 Photography Expedition in Oaxaca, Mexico
7 Nights and 8 Days, Sunday, October 28 to Sunday, November 4, 2012. Bill Bamberger returns in 2012 to lead this very popular expedition that gives you an intimate view of Oaxaca’s extraordinary Day of the Dead celebrations. You get a taste of how the city and a smaller village celebrate. Bill teaches in the Folklore […]
Night Photography on the Zocalo, Oaxaca
Our group is here in Oaxaca for the Day of the Dead Documentary Photography Expedition. We are practicing using tripods and camera settings for night photography. Tonight is the REALLY BIG NIGHT. We are going to the Xoxocotlan cemetery. That did not stop us from staying out on the streets of Oaxaca until very close […]