Day of the Dead in Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta stands out as the only oceanfront destination among the eleven official host sites for the 2026 Festival de las Almas in Jalisco.

Where coastal beauty meets rich Mexican heritage, traditional altars look out over the Pacific, turning every sunset into a meaningful element of the spiritual celebration.

Record-Breaking Giant Catrina: Situated along the Malecón, Puerto Vallarta’s iconic Calavera Catrina achieved official Guinness World Records honors as the tallest worldwide in both 2022 and 2023.

A Rich Celebration of Culture: Event organizers report that the flagship November 2 parade in 2025 brought more than 35,000 residents and travelers together in El Centro (Downtown) and along the Malecon boardwalk.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: Universally honored by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Dia de Los Muertos celebration converts the main streets of El Centro and the Romantic Zone into lively, pedestrian-friendly cultural corridors throughout the event.

Puerto Vallarta Celebration of Day the Dead

Puerto Vallarta Celebration of Day the Dead. Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.

The Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos or Día de los Muertos is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely observed in Mexico, where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. Although related to the simultaneous Christian remembrances for Hallow tide, it has a much less solemn tone and is portrayed as a holiday of joyful celebration rather than mourning. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

What Makes Day of the Dead in Puerto Vallarta So Special?

Puerto Vallarta Celebration of Day the Dead
The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional pan de muerto with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as calaveras literarias.

Altars

During Día de Muertos, the tradition is to build private altars (“ofrendas”) containing the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and the words of the living directed to them. These altars are often placed at home or in public spaces such as schools and libraries, but it is also common for people to go to cemeteries to place these altars next to the tombs of the departed. Mexican marigold is the traditional flower used to honor the dead.

Plans for the day are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the three-day period families usually clean and decorate graves; most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas (altars), which often include orange Mexican marigolds (Tagetes erecta) called cempasúchil (originally named cempōhualxōchitl, Nāhuatl for ‘twenty flowers’). In modern Mexico the marigold is sometimes called Flor de Muerto (‘Flower of Dead’). These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings. It is also believed the bright petals with a strong scent can guide the souls from cemeteries to their family homes.

Calaveras

A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (in Spanish calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas (colloquial term for skeleton), and foods such as chocolate or sugar skulls, which are inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Sugar skulls can be given as gifts to both the living and the dead. Other holiday foods include pan de muerto, a sweet egg bread made in various shapes from plain rounds to skulls, often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.

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