For Day of the Dead, Pátzcuaro offers a tour that goes beyond the visual: it is a sensory and spiritual experience. The illuminated streets, the aromas of copal and the color of marigolds.
Mexico City, November 1 (However).- Pátzcuaro, Michoacán is the setting where the ancestral and the contemporary intertwine to, in this Day of the Dead season, pay tribute to the ancestors.
An ancestral event
Since October 28, the cobblestone streets of Pátzcuaro, its native towns around the lake and Janitzio Island have been decorated with marigold flowers, candles and offerings. The rite begins before the night of November 1, when the little angels are considered to return, and on the 2nd, when the souls of the adults arrive.
“What makes Pátzcuaro unique is that this celebration is an ancestral event that tourists can enjoy and admire, preserved by the communities of the lake area that embrace tradition as a link between the human and the sacred. In Michoacán, the Day of the Dead is not represented: it is lived,” said Roberto E. Monroy García, Secretary of Tourism of the State of Michoacán, in a statement.
The proximity of the lake, which in the Purépecha worldview represents a threshold between worlds, is key. Families keep vigil during the night between prayers, music and flowers, while the reflection of the candles in the water of the lake turns the landscape into a living postcard of the Mexican soul.
A reference of identity
The Day of the Dead has placed Michoacán among the most visited destinations in Mexico; Pátzcuaro is a reference for cultural identity. The Unesco In 2008, it declared the celebration of the Day of the Dead as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This deep connection between life and death not only excites: it also drives the cultural and tourist development of the region. According to estimates from the Ministry of Tourism of Michoacán, more than 400 thousand national and foreign visitors are expected to arrive in the state during the week of the Day of the Dead, generating an important economic impact.
“Whoever visits Michoacán on the Day of the Dead will not only witness a celebration: they will be part of it,” added the Secretary.