Día de los Muertos

Dia De Los Muertos Dancing

About:

Día de los Muertos is a traditional time of remembrance, practiced across Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, and U.S with mixed origins. The timing of the celebration, which occurs every 1st and 2nd of November, is rooted in Catholic rituals for saints (November 1st, “Todos los Inocentes") and those departed (November 2nd, “Fiesta de los Fieles Difuntos”), while specific practices of making offerings (altares) to the dead were the product of the adoption of these rituals by indigenous communities. The date is celebrated in different ways across Latin America, with specific variations tied to how European traditions were re-cast during colonization. Today, Dia de los Muertos is a broader celebration, a time for remembering ancestors and loved ones, through photos and meaningful items, honoring the traditions that inform our present existence.

We in Latin American Studies at UCSD annually invite our students and community members to share in the tradition by joining us for food, celebration, and building an ofrenda together. This year's annual Dia De Los Muertos celebration takes place on October 29, 2025 at the Triton Steps in collaboration with our partners across campus.

Important items and symbols in Día de Los Muertos include:

Ofrenda in Spanish, Offering in English is the name for the altar and its gifts placed in a prominent location during Día de Los Muertos.

Velas in Spanish, candles in English are traditionally lit alongside photos of the dead to honor their memory.

Cempohualxóchitl in Nahuatl, Cempasúchil, in Spanish, Marigold in English is an orange flower native to Mexico associated with Día de Los Muertos for guiding passed ancestors towards the living.

Pan de Muerto is a pan dulce (sweet bread) prepared with the intention of communing with ancestors during Día De Los Muertos Celebrations. Inspired by the papalotlaxcalli, a Mesoamerican bread made from amaranth and corn and decorated with the image of a butterfly, the modern Pan de Muerto is shaped in a circle with dough shaped in a cross and small sphere on top representing a skull and bones.