Culture: Mexico Celebrates Day of the Dead Festival in Commemoration of the Dead

This year, Mexico City's grand Dia de Muertos parade has drawn about 1.5 million people. The event was inspired in part by a James Bond movie.

UNESCO proclaimed the Dia de Muertos celebration as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2003.

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About 1.5 million people gathered in Mexico City on Saturday during a grand parade for the Day of the Dead, according to the city officials.

People participate in the annual Day of the Dead parade, in Mexico City, Mexico, November 1, 2025People participate in the annual Day of the Dead parade, in Mexico City, Mexico, November 1, 2025.

Thousands of performers took part in this year's parade in Mexico City, Known in Spanish as Dia de Muertos, the Day of the Dead is one of Mexico's most important annual festivities and a huge  international attraction. It's worth noting, however, that Mexico City only launched the annual parade in 2016, after taking inspiration from the 2015 James Bond movie, "Spectre."

In the opening of that film, the British agent is wearing a skeleton costume while walking with a beautiful woman though a large crowd celebrating Dia de Muertos — before abandoning her in a hotel room to stalk his target on the rooftops. 

The festivities begin in late October, when families welcome the spirits of deceased children and continue to November 1 with sweets and toys for the young souls believed to return to earth to visit their families.

 

People in animal costumes and holding up a snake sculpture take part in the annual Day of the Dead parade, November 1, 2025.

The parade also features colorful, fantastical sculptures known as alebrijesImage: 

Revellers attend the Grand Parade commemorating the Day of the Dead in Mexico City, on November 1, 2025.

The parade marking Day of the Dead in Mexico City also draws visitors from other countries.

The parade in Mexico's capital on Saturday serves as the heart of the festivities, bringing together diverse cultural traditions from the nation of over 130 million people.

Musicians walk in front of a parade float decorated with skulls

While honoring the dead is a long-running tradition in Mexico, the first Dia de Muertos parade was only held in Mexico in 2016 — inspired by the opening scene from the James Bond movie Spectre in 2015 Image.

The celebration concludes on November 2 with offerings of favorite foods and drinks for the adults being honored.

HOLY BUSINESS: THE BEST DEAL THE WEST EVER MADE WITH AFRICA-From Drums to Church Bells -- The Greatest Trade in History -

They didn't build prisons for us.

They didn’t even need chains to hold us.  

No whips, no shackles, no iron gates. 

no cuffs, no angry soldiers.

Just a book, a pulpit, and a crowd whose hearts had been taught to tremble.  

A crowd staring like goats at market day.

No need to kill the body when you can rent the mind cheaply and forever.  

We turned our backs on the fires of our ancestors,  

and lit candles in cathedrals built with our own pockets.

Our sacred drums fell silent,  

only to be replaced by church bells singing over stolen land.  

They handed us a polished cross ,

smiled like angels,

and walked away with our gold in their handbags.  

They sang hymns to us  

and marched off with our diamonds in their pockets.  

Every ship that docked at our shores,

didn't just bring guns and goods, 

It brought a pastor with a holy smile,  

ready to preach obedience in the name of love.  

Every time another diamond disappeared,

a sermon told us to be patient 

because asking questions is a sin,

because heaven is better than diamonds.

Religion became a magic trick,

became the art of making suffering look beautiful,  

poverty look noble,  

and questions a sin.  

So we buried our curiosity six feet deep like an unwanted pet,

planted faith on top,  

and watered it with fear every Sunday morning.

A pale Messiah with ocean eyes was introduced to us,  

and we washed our own gods off the walls,  

calling our gods “fetishes”, evil 

like we suddenly hated our own reflection 

We prayed to the same name that kept our backs bent,  

and called it deliverance.  

Meanwhile, nations elsewhere develop on the back of science,  

pillars of structure,  

armies of strategy. 

Farming and factories.

But we…  

We pray and fast when the soil screams for food,

give offerings and tithes instead of tools,  

twirled joyfully in church dances  

while the soil beneath our feet screamed from hunger,

while our farms turn to dust 

And the West — ah, the West!  

They look at us now with that distant pity,  

not because they struggle to conquer us,  

but because they know they already have,  

without lifting a sword.  

They used the most successful business deal in history:

Religion — a project they don't even pay for anymore

because we became the donors,  

the investors,  

the workers,

the custodians,  

and the prisoners… all rolled neatly into one neat package.

So, I ask my brothers, my sisters…  

Do we keep sleeping under the blanket of holy illusion,  

or do we open our eyes to the daylight we’ve been trained to fear?  

Western religion trimmed the sharp edges of our minds,  

turned wise men into clever scammers  ,

who feast on the desperation of their flocks,

selling miracle water and holy handkerchiefs

And if truth be told,  

this 'blessing" has, in many ways,

taken more than it has given,

It has bruised us far deeper than it blessed us,

a miracle that takes more than it gives.  

Just the kind that empties your pockets while you shout "Amen"

EBIKABOWEI KEDIKUMO - writes from Ayakoromo Town, Delta State

Bille Clan Mourn Passage of Their Late Hero, High Chief. Bebe-Owibo Jacob, The Agbaniye-Jike 1 of Niger Delta

....The greatness and prowess of Bebe-Owibo Jacob: the creek lion, jike-jike force, Don Chair Wowo, the jolly Daddy 

At the young age of 26, Bebeowibo Jacob etched his name into history. He led the famous Jike Boys into battle and triumphed against overwhelming odds. When he chose to call himself Agbaniye Jike, many questioned his audacity — but he would soon prove that the title was not a boast, but a prophecy fulfilled. He was truly the Agbaniye Jike of his generation — fearless in spirit, unshakable in purpose, and deeply devoted to his people.

During a dark period when militancy and sea piracy terrorized the Niger Delta, when travelers feared to pass through the creeks, he brought the world to Bille. Under his influence, life and energy returned to the community. Musicians, actors, adventurers, and even rivals came and bore witness to the new face of Bille Kingdom — a place revived by the strength of one man’s will.

Abebe Jacob did more than fight battles; he ignited a consciousness. He challenged the educated elites to look beyond comfort and invest in the growth of their homeland. His methods may have been raw, even unconventional, but they were driven by genuine love and purpose. He gave all that he had — including his life — for his people’s progress.

Truly, the greatest sacrifice any man can make is to give his life for the freedom and advancement of others.

His story is not merely one of war, but of vision, courage, and transformation.

Let this stand as a reminder to all who follow his path today:

No matter how powerful you may become, if your power does not uplift your people, then your power is nothing.

By: Biodeinmabo Kombonimi