Mexico City is in the middle of its largest Day of the Dead program yet, with more than 5,000 free events scheduled across all 16 of the capital's boroughs between Oct. 29 and Nov. 2. Head of government Clara Brugada Molina presented the program on Oct. 21 alongside Culture Secretary Ana Francis López Bayghen, framing it as an effort to strengthen Mexican traditions through music, papier-mâché art and public gatherings.
The centerpiece was Saturday's 10th annual Gran Desfile de Día de Muertos, which drew more than 4,000 participants and 12 allegorical floats along a route from the Diana Cazadora roundabout on Paseo de la Reforma to the Zócalo, with music from the Instituto Mexicano del Sonido. This year's parade was dedicated to writers Nellie Campobello and Juan Rulfo, singer Juan Gabriel and filmmaker Emilio "El Indio" Fernández.
A record flower crop
Growers supplying the city's festivities produced 10 million cempasúchil, or marigold, plants this year — up 53.8% from 6.5 million in 2025 — and organizers used part of that haul to build a 32-meter Catrina figure and decorate the Zócalo with 100,000 marigold plants and artist-painted axolotl sculptures. City officials say they are seeking a Guinness World Record tied to the installation, though no record has yet been confirmed.
The city's Tourism Secretariat expects more than 500,000 visitors during the holiday season, and the business chamber Concanaco Servytur has forecast roughly 53 billion pesos — about $2.8 billion — in economic activity between Oct. 25 and Nov. 2, a 7% increase over last year. Cemetery vigils and smaller neighborhood observances, long the holiday's quieter counterpart to the parade, continue through Monday at sites across the city and in nearby towns such as Mixquic.
The celebrations coincide this year with the Mexico City Grand Prix, which brings its own wave of visitors to the capital the same weekend — a scheduling overlap city tourism officials have welcomed rather than tried to untangle.
