A Guide to Day of the Dead in Oaxaca

Celebrating the connection between the dead and the living, Día de los Muertos (or Dia de Muertos, depending on who you ask) is a Mexican holiday that honors the ones who have left us and manifests into a spectacular tradition for those who are still Earth-side. It’s a holiday that has been around forever but has recently piqued the interest of foreigners thanks in part to movies like 007’s Spectre (which inspired the now-annual Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City) and Disney’s Coco. These days, Dia de los Muertos is widely celebrated throughout Mexico, with epicenters that truly go all out for the occasion. Oaxaca is one of the most vibrant cities to experience the magic of the holiday, with weekslong festivities that culminate in dazzling citywide parades and freewheeling street carnivals, cemetery vigils, and more.

When is Día de los Muertos?

In Mexico, Día de los Muertos parades, cemetery vigils, and all manner of festivities take place throughout October and culminate on November 1 and 2, when people who have passed on to the afterlife are believed to return to this mortal plane. Oaxaca’s Día de los Muertos events take place from the end of October through early November, with the main festival from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

How to celebrate Day of the Dead in Oaxaca

Take a cemetery tour

Live Oaxaca founder Omar Alonso, who was born and raised in Oaxaca, offers a series of curated epicurean and cultural experiences. Don’t miss his Día de los Muertos ofrenda tour, which includes dinner, drinks, and guided visits to cemeteries around the city. ($300 per person)

Stock up on alfeñiques

Alfeñiques are intricately decorated sugar skulls that are ubiquitous throughout Mexico. Serving as both decoration and treat, the skulls are a staple of Día de los Muertos. They belong to a category of sweets called alfeñiques, or sugar candies. During Muertos season you’ll find vendors selling not just sugar skulls but alfeñiques in all sorts of dazzling colors, shapes, and sizes: a menagerie of animals, figurines representing certain professions, lavishly dressed skeleton figures with wide-brimmed hats known as catrinas, and skeletons in little coffins that pop up with the tug of a string. You’ll even find food-shaped alfeñiques, which include special-occasion dishes like the plates of tamales, enchiladas, and mole that families might make for their altars but in cute bite-size versions. For dessert, fruits and mini pieces of pan dulce are plentiful. People do pick up pieces that represent what their loved ones did, ate, or liked when they were alive to add to their altar, but just as often, they buy them for the pure joy of tucking into a tiny plate of tacos or enjoying a miniature concha.

Try pan de muertos

Pan de muerto is a Mexican pan dulce traditionally baked for Día de los Muertos. While you may be familiar with the sugar-dusted version decorated with shapes that evoke crossed bones, the pan de muerto in Oaxaca is a simpler egg-based bread with a wax figurine representing the dead. You’ll find them at bakeries and on restaurant menus all over Oaxaca leading up to the holiday. And if you’re lucky enough, you may also encounter the version from Mitla, a small town close to Oaxaca where pan de muerto is decorated with intricate designs made with a white sugar paste.

Where to stay in Oaxaca

Grand Fiesta Americana Oaxaca

Located between the city center’s major sights (and restaurants) and the artsy neighborhood of Jalatlaco, this four-star hotel is right in the middle of it all. Modern and luxurious with gorgeous traditional art throughout, Grand Fiesta Americana Oaxaca features an authentic Mexican restaurant, a terrace bar, a spa, and a glittering pool — the perfect place to unwind after walking the streets of Oaxaca. Rooms from $380.

Where to eat in Oaxaca

Alfonsina

Stepping into Alfonsina is like stepping into an oasis, which just happens to be in the family courtyard of the mother and son duo that helms it. During the day, Alfonsina serves up casual fare prepared by matriarch Elvia Leon while at night it hosts a five-course tasting menu by her son, Cosme-trained chef Jorge Leon. There’s no menu but both experiences make magic of hyper-local ingredients purchased that day which taste even better under the trees and plants of the Leon home. 

Crudo

If you’re feeling masa fatigue, and even if you’re not, Crudo is an excellent option for lighter fare that’s still teeming with flavor. Utilizing Japanese techniques on Oaxacan ingredients, this spot offers two omakase options in cozy six-seat or 12-seat rooms. Be sure to get the sake pairing which features bottles from the Mexican state of Sonora. 

Levadura de Olla

Recently awarded a Michelin star as part of the guide’s inaugural ceremony in Mexico, this spot by Thalia Barrios Garcia is not to be missed. Levadura de Olla features Oaxacan classics found throughout the state and dishes inspired by rural communities, especially from the Sierra Sur region — it’s hard not to order everything on the menu. 

Hierba Santa Cocina Oaxaqueña

Off the beaten path, casual Hierba Santa Cocina Oaxaqueña might be in a mall food court, but the mundane location doesn’t mean the traditional dishes coming out of this kitchen aren’t phenomenal. Order the Omelette de la Casa, filled with quesillo, topped with chapulines, and bathed in an hoja santa–based salsa — it’s a taste of Oaxaca in a single bite. 

Where to drink in Oaxaca

Sabina Sabe

This temple to mezcal, the spirit to sip when you’re in Oaxaca, may seem laid back, but the cocktails are anything but. Featuring a plethora of local flavors (and spirits beyond the extensive mezcal collection), Sabina Sabe’s delicious and rotating tipples offer a taste of Oaxaca in each glass. Order a seasonal drink, and set future you up for success with a Poleo Garibaldi, a cocktail featuring Campari cooked with pineapple and poleo, an herb used throughout Oaxaca as a hangover cure.

La Mezcalerita

This casual spot is a hidden gem (with a rooftop!) where the locals hang out, and you know that means it’s good. The spirit list at La Mezcalerita is largely Mexican, if not Oaxacan; the mezcal collection includes an entire section of housemade options; and you can find cocktails so Oaxacan they come with crickets. The best part is the extensive craft beer list which is owner Coca Dos’ passion project and includes bottles you can only find here. A flight is a good idea to get a proper taste of all the brews, and you’ll want to get a full bottle of the Zarooba, a carajillo stout that tastes exactly like the cocktail that inspired it, if not better.

What to do in Oaxaca

Jardin Etnobotanico de Oaxaca

Featuring plants and flowers from all the diverse regions of Oaxaca, the botanical garden represents the state’s natural beauty in one convenient location.

Mercado 20 de Noviembre

You can’t go to Oaxaca and not visit the markets. At Mercado 20 de Noviembre, be sure to try Oaxacan cheese (known locally as quesillo), tlayudas (thin tortilla-like flatbreads with your choice of toppings), tejate (a pre-Hispanic cacao and maiz drink), and if you haven’t already, chapulines (those crunchy crickets you’ll find on every menu). Meat lovers will want to take a walk down to Paseo de Humo, where you can pick your meats and have them prepared right in front of you. Mercado Benito Juarez is also a must-visit.

Barrio de Jalatlaco

There are plenty of murals and street art in Oaxaca, but the biggest, brightest, and most concentrated are in the hip neighborhood of Jalatlaco. Bring your camera — there will be plenty of photo ops. 

Neighboring towns

Oaxaca City is surrounded by small towns and communities specializing in a variety of traditional crafts. Go to San Bartolo Coyotepec for barro negro (clay pottery with a glossy black finish), San Martín Tilcajete for alebrijes (colorful animal-inspired wood carvings), and Teotitlán del Valle for expertly woven textiles.