Día de Muertos San Juan Tlihuaca

The "animeros" go through the town, singing and telling verses of the souls. They carry an ayate and a bell during the tour; the doors of the neighbors are knocked and everyone goes to where it is installed the altar. The rosary is prayed, wishes are requested for the souls of the departed from families and the souls in purgatory. At the cemetery offerings are also placed and vigils are held.

This event is held every year. San Juan Tlihuaca, an original pueblo of Azcapotzalco in the north of the city, observes Día de Muertos on 1 and 2 November.

What happens. Families decorate the graves in the pueblo cemetery with cempasúchil and candles and keep vigil into the night; home altars carry photographs, copal, water, salt, pan de muerto and the dishes the dead preferred. The parish holds masses on both days and the streets around the churchyard fill with flower and candle stalls.

The context. Azcapotzalco was the seat of the Tepanec dominion before the rise of Tenochtitlan, and its pueblos keep community calendars that long predate the modern city. This is one of them: a local observance, not a staged event.

Practical notes. Metro Azcapotzalco and Ferrería, line 6, serve the borough; the pueblo itself is a short taxi ride from either. Combine it with the colonial parish church and the historic centre of Azcapotzalco. Carry cash, go in the evening rather than late at night, and ask before photographing families at the graves.