17 photos of Mexico’s breathtaking Day of the Dead festival

El Día de los Muertos (or the Day of the Dead) started on Tuesday, November 1 and ended a day later.

For the holiday, families across Mexico gather in cemeteries and public squares to honor their deceased loved ones in traditional costumes and makeup.

Check out photos from this year’s festivities and memorials below.

Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival is known for amazing skeletal makeup. Ecuador, Brazil, and Bolivia have their own festivities, too.

Some people incorporate flower crowns, glitter, and jewels into their costumes.

The holiday dates back 3,000 years.

Tradition calls for lighting candles and bringing bouquets to the graves of family and friends. November 1 (called the Day of the Innocents) is meant to honor deceased infants and children, while November 2 (called the Day of the Dead) is a day to honor deceased adults.

As they honor the life of their loved ones, people create decorative memorials.

The ceremonies are “mestizo,” combining pre-colonial and Roman Catholic customs.

A central idea surrounding the festivities is the Aztec belief that the dead come back to Earth for one day every year.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for the Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City this year.

Source: The Associated Press

Traditionally, the Day of Dead only consisted of quiet family gatherings at graves. But in recent years, it has branched out to include mass celebrations with food and drink.

Source: The Associated Press

Art installations are a big part of the festivities in Mexico City.

Below, a man painted a Styrofoam skull for an arts competition as part of the parade.

Women often dress up as La Calavera Catrina, a popular Mexican skeleton character from the early 1900s who wears a large hat.

The Day of the Dead is also often a day for activism. In 1997, sex workers in Mexico City honored people who died of AIDS.

In 2002, a crowd carried a banner that read "Guilliani dreamers never die" (in homage to the anti-globalization protester shot dead by a police officer the year before).

This year, protestors marched to protest violence against women.

The rape and murder of 16-year-old Lucía Pérez in Argentina last October sparked the protests.

Dressed as Catrinas, female protestors held signs and chanted "We want ourselves alive."