Día de los Muertos: Celebrating Life, Family, and Mexican Tradition

Every fall, brilliant orange marigolds, colorful papel picado, glowing candles, photographs, music, food, and family traditions come together for one of Mexico’s most meaningful celebrations: Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Observed primarily on November 1 and 2, Día de los Muertos is sometimes mistaken for a Mexican version of Halloween. But its meaning is very different. At its heart, Día de los Muertos is about remembrance, family, love, and celebrating the lives of those who came before us.

For Mexican and Mexican American families—including many here in Sacramento and throughout Northern California—the tradition is also an opportunity to pass culture from one generation to the next.

What Is the Meaning Behind Día de los Muertos?

Día de los Muertos is based on the idea that remembering someone keeps their story and legacy alive.

Families honor relatives and loved ones who have passed away by sharing stories, preparing favorite foods, displaying photographs, visiting cemeteries, playing music, dancing, and creating ofrendas, or altars.

Rather than treating death only as something frightening or sorrowful, Día de los Muertos recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience. It creates space for families to remember loved ones with affection—and often with music, laughter, color, and celebration.

One of the most important traditions is the ofrenda. Families may decorate an altar with photographs of loved ones alongside candles, cempasúchil (marigolds), papel picado, water, favorite foods, pan de muerto, and meaningful personal objects.

Every ofrenda is different because every family—and every person being remembered—has a different story.

A Tradition With Deep Roots

The history of Día de los Muertos reaches back centuries to Indigenous cultures in Mexico. Indigenous peoples including the Mexica (Aztec), Maya, Purépecha, Zapotec, and others practiced traditions honoring ancestors and recognizing death as part of the cycle of life.

Following Spanish colonization in the 16th century, Indigenous traditions became intertwined with Catholic observances, particularly All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

Over generations, these influences helped form the many regional Día de los Muertos traditions practiced throughout Mexico today.

The cultural importance of these traditions is recognized internationally. UNESCO has included Mexico's Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Importantly, there is no single way that every Mexican family celebrates Día de los Muertos. Traditions vary by region, community, religious belief, and family history.

The Symbols of Día de los Muertos

Part of what makes Día de los Muertos so recognizable is its beautiful visual language.

Cempasúchil (marigolds) are among its most iconic symbols. Their vivid color and fragrance are traditionally believed to help guide loved ones home.

Ofrendas create a place for remembrance and may include photographs, candles, flowers, food, water, religious imagery, and personal belongings.

Papel picado brings movement and color to celebrations through intricately cut tissue-paper designs.

Calaveras, or decorative skulls, remind us of our shared mortality while presenting death in a colorful and sometimes humorous way.

Another familiar figure is La Catrina, whose modern imagery developed from the work of Mexican illustrator José Guadalupe Posada. Over time, the elegantly dressed skeleton became one of the most recognizable images associated with Mexican culture and Día de los Muertos.

And, of course, there is music and dance.

Like so many Mexican traditions, Día de los Muertos isn't simply something to observe—it can be experienced through sound, movement, food, art, and community.

Día de los Muertos in the United States

As generations of Mexican families made their homes in the United States, they brought their traditions with them.

Mexican American families have observed Día de los Muertos in the United States for generations. During the Chicano cultural movement of the 1960s and 1970s, artists and community organizations also helped bring Día de los Muertos into larger public spaces through community ofrendas, art, performances, and celebrations.

Today, you'll find Día de los Muertos celebrations across the country at museums, schools, cultural centers, parks, cemeteries, and community festivals.

That is especially true here in California.

In Sacramento, Día de los Muertos has become part of the region's vibrant Mexican and Latino cultural landscape. Local celebrations bring families together through traditional altars, Mexican folklórico dance, music, art, food, and storytelling.

For younger Mexican Americans, these experiences can be especially meaningful. They provide an opportunity to understand traditions that may have been important to their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents—and to make those traditions their own.

7 Ways to Celebrate Día de los Muertos With Your Children at Home

Keeping a cultural tradition alive doesn't require an elaborate celebration. Small traditions practiced together can create memories children carry with them for the rest of their lives.

1. Create a Family Ofrenda

Choose a small table or special area in your home and build an ofrenda together.

Let your children choose photographs of relatives they would like to honor. Add flowers, candles or child-safe LED candles, papel picado, drawings, favorite foods, and objects that remind your family of those individuals.

Most importantly, explain why each photograph or object is there.

2. Tell Family Stories

Culture lives through stories.

Instead of simply displaying a photograph of a grandparent or great-grandparent, tell your children about them.

What made them laugh? What did they cook? What music did they love? Where did they grow up? What funny things did they do?

Children may forget dates and facts, but stories can stay with them for decades.

3. Cook Something Together

Prepare pan de muerto or another recipe connected to your family's heritage.

If a loved one had a favorite dish, make that instead. Cooking provides a natural opportunity to explain who prepared the recipe before you and why your family continues making it.

4. Make Papel Picado or Other Mexican Folk Art

Turn cultural education into something children can touch and create.

Make papel picado, decorate paper calaveras, draw marigolds, or create artwork inspired by traditional Mexican folk art.

While creating, talk about what the different Día de los Muertos symbols represent.

5. Play Mexican Music—and Dance

Music and dance are powerful ways for children to experience culture rather than simply read about it.

Play traditional Mexican music at home. Teach them a dance you remember. Attend a Mexican folklórico performance together or enroll them in a cultural dance program.

Movement can create a connection to heritage that feels completely different from learning it in a classroom.

6. Visit a Local Día de los Muertos Celebration

For families in the Sacramento area, look for Día de los Muertos festivals, community ofrendas, museum programs, dance performances, and cultural events.

Seeing hundreds of people celebrating together can help children understand that these traditions are part of something much larger than their individual family.

7. Let Your Children Ask Questions

Children may have questions about death, ancestors, religion, or why certain traditions exist.

That's okay.

Día de los Muertos can provide families with a thoughtful opportunity to discuss remembrance and family history in an age-appropriate way.

You don't have to know every answer. You can learn about the tradition together.

Passing Mexican Culture From One Generation to the Next

Traditions survive because someone chooses to teach them.

A recipe is passed down. A song is played again. A child learns the meaning behind an altar. A grandmother tells a story. A parent teaches a dance.

Eventually, that child becomes the person teaching the next generation.

At Calidanza Dance Company & Academy, we believe Mexican folklórico dance can be one of those bridges between generations.

Through dance, children don't simply learn choreography. They can discover the music, clothing, traditions, regional styles, stories, and cultural history connected to Mexico.

For families searching for Mexican dance classes in Sacramento, Mexican folklórico for kids, Ballet Folklórico in Sacramento, or ways to help their children connect with Mexican culture in Sacramento, dance can be a beautiful place to begin.

Keep the Tradition Moving

Día de los Muertos reminds us that culture isn't something that belongs only to the past. It continues every time we cook a family recipe, tell a story, play a song, create an ofrenda—or teach a child the traditions that were once taught to us.

If you want your children to have greater exposure to Mexican culture, dance is a wonderful way to help them experience that heritage firsthand.

Contact Calidanza Dance Company & Academy to learn more about joining our academy or to find out about after-school Mexican folklórico dance programs near you in the Sacramento area.

Together, we can keep our traditions dancing from one generation to the next.