San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, where every year the community builds an enormous ofrenda and dances with the dead until the early hours of the morning Oaxaca City’s San Miguel Cemetery is host to three days of events such as exhibitions, altar competitions, music and prayers for the dead. While in Oaxaca, try the black mole, a rich sauce consisting of more than twenty different spices and considered the “king of moles” popular during this season Also, in Cancun’s theme park Xcaret, guests are invited to partake in the celebration at a Mayan grave site.

Other destinations offer more traditional opportunities. In Merida, Yucatan, the indigenous communities call these days the Hanal Pixan, a feast for all souls, and groups of families congregate in cemeteries and cook  their loved one’s favorite meals, the specialty of the day is mucbipollo, a seasoned chicken tamale wrapped in plantain leaves that is cooked underground in a pit barbeque.

In the Huasteca region of San Luis Potosi, Xantolo, starts Nov. 1 and is celebrated with incense and traditional dancing that goes on throughout the night. On Nov. 2nd everyone goes to the cemetery to decorate it www.sanluispotosi.gob.mx And in the World Heritage Sites of the city of Puebla, Puebla, and Xochimilco in Mexico City, local myths and legends come to life and streets are covered with carpets made of flower petals.

So don’t miss out on celebrating Day of the Dead in Mexico, because it is one of the best ways to get to know the country’s culture and traditions of life.