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The Most Colorful and Authentic Day of the Dead Celebrations in the West

From the largest Día de los Muertos event north of the border in L.A. to a wild parade in Tucson, these festivities capture the soul of the Mexican holiday

Christine Ryan

Day of the Dead celebrations have been popular for a long time. Who can resist the colorful makeup, theatrical performances, and overall vibrancy of this Mexican holiday? But these days, event organizers and participants are looking beyond the surface and tapping into the day’s cultural roots. This isn’t just a Mexican Halloween—and people get that now.

Instead of street parties that just involve face painting, tacos, and all-night imbibing, more and more, Día de los Muertos events are stacked with segments like Aztec ritual dancing, community-made ofrendas (traditional altars to honor the deceased), live music from the Motherland, pageantry filled parades, and sugar skull decorating. L.A., for one, makes the connection between the celebration and the dearly departed honorees abundantly clear by hosting a festival in a cemetery. And, though we’re lucky to have one of the biggest Day of the Dead celebrations outside of Mexico in that Hollywood Forever Cemetery event, the festivities don’t stop there. From Arizona to Washington, these gatherings honor the best of Day of the Dead.

1 /10 Desert Botanical Gardens

Día de los Muertos Celebration, Phoenix, AZ

Making excellent use of its spectacular Sonoran desert setting, the Día de Muertos celebration at Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden showcases a large Ofrenda—the typical, colorful shrines made for the deceased. Both days culminate in La Procesión. Inspired by the tradition of townspeople going together to visit their ancestor’s graves at this time of year, participants in this afternoon parade sing and dance their way through the garden’s 55 acres of cacti and agave and mesquite. All Garden visitors are welcome to join in.
2 /10 Courtesy Hollywood Forever

Hollywood Forever Día de los Muertos Celebration, Los Angeles, CA

The largest Day of the Dead celebration outside of Mexico goes down at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. More than 40,000 are expected to attend this massive event that includes hundreds of altars built by locals competing for best in show; live music by Mexican indie rock band Café Tacvba; and epic costumery in the theatrical city. By hosting in a cemetery, the organizers aim to help redirect people toward the roots of Día as a celebration of loved ones lost.
3 /10 Courtesy All Souls

The All Souls Procession, Tucson, AZ

Community driven, with no corporate sponsorships—it’s supported entirely by donations from the public and local businesses—Tucson’s All Souls Procession is not, its organizers are quick to point out, a Day of the Dead celebration per se: “It’s a celebration of our dead that is open to all people from all traditions and all ways of celebrating and mourning. People bring many traditions to it—and make some up on their own!—and one of the traditions people draw on is the Day of the Dead.” Our take? It’s some sort of crazy, fantastical amalgam of a classic Día de los Muertos, Cirque du Soleil, and an epic sci-fi/steampunk rock opera. Or, to use a comparison Northern Californians would understand, Burning Man compressed into a weekend.
4 /10 Day of the Tread

Day of the Tread, Albuquerque, NM

Part crit, part Halloween costume contest, part Dia de Los Muertos celebration; Albuquerque's Day of the Tread may just be the most colorful cycling event in the West. Hundreds show up for this non-competitive ride and choose from routes that range from a kids 1K to 100 miles (which you can ride solo or tandem). Longer routes cruise through Old Town, along the Rio Grande River, the foothills of the Sandias Mountains, and the High Desert. Though costumes and face paint aren't mandaroty, they are certainly encouraged—especially for the after-party at Civic Plaza.
5 /10 Oakland Museum of California

El Día de los Muertos Community Celebration, Oakland, CA

From the start, the Day of the Dead was a cross-cultural affair: The All Souls Day introduced by the Spanish merged with existing Aztec holidays celebrating fallen warriors. The Oakland Museum of California’s annual Día de los Muertos Community Celebration reaches beyond Latin America to East Asian and Pacific Islander ways of mourning and celebrating, loved ones lost. For the 25th anniversary of the event, the museum expands its fan-favorite to two days, including an exhibit on the Chicano roots of Día de Muertos.
6 /10 Courtesy of the Mesa Arts Center

Día de los Muertos Festival, Mesa, AZ

Although it takes place on the grounds of the glassily modern Mesa Arts Center, the two-day Día de los Muertos Festival in Mesa includes such favorite elements as mariachi bands, an arts-and-crafts marketplace, and a colorful community altar, where visitors can leave mementos of their loved ones who have passed away. (There’s even an altar contest for local neighborhood groups, schools, and families—all the entries are on display too.) And you don’t have to be a child to have your face painted with the traditional Day of the Dead skull.
7 /10 Courtesy of the Longmont Museum

Día de los Muertos, Longmont, CO

Arizona doesn’t have a monopoly on Day of the Dead celebrations, of course. Midway between Boulder and Fort Collins, the town of Longmont, Colorado, hosts Colorado’s largest Day of the Dead celebration. More than 6,000 people come to see the Longmont Museum’s month-long exhibition (from Oct 10 to Nov 4)—and to participate in the museum’s annual midday celebration for families on the Saturday closest to Nov 1—with music and dancing and sugar-skull decorating. It’s family friendly, and free of charge.
8 /10 Mercedes Romero

Día de los Muertos Community Concert, San Francisco

An auditorium filled with full of Catrins and Catrinas. Musicians dressed in their usual formalwear—with the addition of a marigold corsage or boutonnière. Dancers swirling around the conductor’s podium. Popular Latin performers joining forces with a Grammy-winning orchestra. Yes, it’s the San Francisco Symphony’s annual Día de los Muertos concert. Or, to be precise, concerts: One starts at 2 p.m., so the whole family can join in, and the other at 8 p.m that evening. No matter which one you choose, arrive early. There will be altars, crafts, and refreshments in the lobby before the performance.
9 /10 Museum of Northern Arizona

Celebraciones de la Gente, Flagstaff, AZ

For one weekend every October since 2002, the Celebraciones de la Gente takes over the ponderosa-shaded courtyard of the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, where San Francisco Peak looms in the distance. The festival features the unique handicrafts, altars, and music, but with a hint of the Old West, thanks to the participation of Nuestras Raíces (“Our Roots”), a local heritage organization honoring the city’s Hispanic pioneer families from the early 1900s. You'll learn how to build ofrendas (offerings), watch theatrical dancing, and decorate sugar skulls over two jam-packed days.
10 /10 Tucson Botanical Gardens

FEAST with the Dearly Departed, Tucson, AZ

The Tucson Botanical Gardens creates a community ofrenda, or altar, that is on display throughout the month of October. Visitors to the garden can leave mementos or messages to their loved ones, be they people or pets. The Gardens also always throw a Feast with the Dearly Departed fundraiser on the last Saturday in October. This year will be Oct. 26.

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