How Mexico City Throws a Party That Would Make the Grim Reaper Grin

Right then, strap yourselves in, because what we’ve got here is a spectacle of such scale that even the most flamboyant of planners would probably need to lie down for a bit. Mexico City’s Day of the Dead celebrations are coming, and it's shaping up to be nothing short of a jaw-dropping, skull-painted, trumpet-blasting extravaganza with seven million people expected to join the party. Not your average Sunday brunch, is it?

Now, for those of you unfamiliar with this spectacle (perhaps you’ve been living under a rock), the Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is not just a Halloween knockoff with better outfits. No, it’s far more sophisticated than that. Think of it as a festival where the entire country comes together to say, “Ah, death. You’re a part of life. Let’s make you fabulous!” And let me tell you, Mexico does fabulous in a way that makes the rest of us look like we’re fiddling about with a glue stick and some glitter.

This year, the capital's government is expecting a dizzying 2 billion pesos to be pumped into the economy thanks to the celebrations. That’s about £90 million – the sort of money that might get you a decent flat in London, provided you don’t mind it being the size of a dishwasher. In Mexico City, though, it’s going to fuel a five-day fiesta that’ll make Rio Carnival look like a village fête.

The head honcho of this parade of the afterlife, Clara Brugada, has been eagerly waving the flag, laying out a plan so dense with activities that just reading it makes me want to book a nap. Things kick off on October 26 with the “Move by Bike” night ride – because why not? After all, if you’re going to celebrate death, you might as well start by attempting it on a bicycle in the middle of the night. It’s a 20-kilometer ride from the Petróleos fountain to Izazaga Street, which sounds lovely until you remember that this is a city where traffic jams are considered a national sport. But still, thousands of cyclists and skaters will have their day, or rather, their night, before the main event gets underway.

And then we have the big hitters: the mega procession of Catrinas, those intricately dressed skeletons with their wide-brimmed hats and painted smiles, swanning about like they own the place. This will snake through the streets of the Historic Center on October 27, followed by a parade that promises to be nothing short of epic. Not your typical "oh-look-at-that-float" affair, this procession will feature a whopping 5,800 people spread across 37 contingents, including seven massive floats – and no, these aren’t your local high school’s best attempt at papier-mâché. No, we’re talking massive, lavish floats honoring Mexican legends like Rosario Castellanos and Lucha Reyes, surrounded by 16 musical troupes and 8 contingents with mojigangas – those gigantic, larger-than-life puppets that look like they’ve just rolled out of a fever dream. This parade will be as subtle as a rocket launch. It’s 8 kilometers of pure visual overstimulation, all the way from Chapultepec Park to the Plaza de la Constitución.

Speaking of the Zócalo, which is a fancy word for the city’s main square, it will be transformed into what can only be described as the “Taj Mahal of Offerings.” Get this – 21 cardboard sculptures, each between 6 and 10 meters high, will rise up like some kind of mythical forest of skulls and marigolds. There’s also a monumental offering standing a staggering 17 meters tall, with a water mirror so large you could probably fit a small village on it. And for a touch of local flair, two trajineras – those brightly decorated boats from Xochimilco – will drift about serenely in the square, along with a chinampa, which is essentially a floating garden with 10,000 cempasúchil (marigolds to you and me) flowers. It's like they've built a small city within the city, a vivid, over-the-top, beautifully Mexican homage to the dead.

You could be forgiven for thinking that this all sounds rather jolly for a holiday about death. But that’s the beauty of it. While most of us tend to treat the topic with the kind of stiff upper lip you’d expect at a British funeral, Mexico throws open the doors, turns up the music, and invites death to dance. It’s a joyous celebration of life’s inevitable end, wrapped up in a carnival of color, sound, and symbolism that’s more exciting than anything the Grim Reaper has ever seen.

But as is the way with all things festive and fun, there's always someone waiting in the wings to ruin it with economics. Enter the Council for the Development of Small Commerce, tutting in the background as they warn that half of the sales during this spectacle will vanish into the black hole of informality. Apparently, 50% of the cash will be pocketed by market traders and street vendors flogging knock-off goods, probably made in China. Yes, while Mexico City’s streets are flooded with parade-goers, some bright spark will be selling "authentic" Día de los Muertos trinkets that look like they were produced in a factory 6,000 miles away. It's a tale as old as time – the age-old battle between organized commerce and the free-wheeling market traders who make their own rules. But to be honest, that’s just part of the chaos that makes Mexico City so thrilling.

All in all, what’s not to love? Seven million people, a budget that could rebuild a small nation, and enough Catrinas, floats, and flowers to make you feel like you’ve fallen into an alternate universe where the dead are the life of the party. So if you find yourself in Mexico City this year, forget the polite nod to Halloween we do in the UK. Embrace the chaos, the color, and the energy. After all, we’re all heading towards the same place – we might as well get there in style.