How Day of the Dead connects Tri-Cities families and honors ancestors
Just a few days after Halloween each year, Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, marks a special day with Mexican roots. It’s a day to remember the lives of loved ones who have died and connects the living and the dead.
This year, the holiday is celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2.
Instead of jack-o-lanterns, ghosts and witch hats, the celebration of Día de los Muertos incorporates orange marigolds, sugar skulls, decorative skeletons and candles. People also wear colorful skeleton face paint.
The holiday originated in Mexico, when the Aztecs honored the dead using skulls.
Aztec traditions later became fused with the Catholic holidays All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day after Spanish conquistadors invaded America.
During festivals in Spain, families decorated grave sites, brought food to cemeteries and lined the way for the dead to return to their families using candles and marigolds.
There also are Catholic dedication masses. Events continue at cemeteries.
Today, people build altars in their homes and business and decorate with ofrendas, or offerings, for the dead. The altars are set up with framed photos of loved ones.
Traditional foods include pan de muerto, a sweet bread made for the occasion.
More people in the U.S. are celebrating the day, with the rise of popular children’s movies like “Coco” and “The Book of Life.”
It’s growing as an American holiday, still centered around Hispanic culture.
Day of the Dead in Tri-Cities
In the Tri-Cities, you’ll see vendors selling clusters of orange marigolds leading up to Día de los Muertos. The strong fragrance of the flowers is thought to help guide spirits home.
Groups around the Tri-Cities are hosting Día de los Muertos festivities this year.
Saturday, Nov. 1
Día de los Muertos at Middleton’s Middleton Farms, 1050 Pasco Kahlotus Rd., Pasco
Sunday, Nov. 2
Día de los Muertos Celebration Einan’s at Hillcrest Pasco, 224 S. 24th Ave., Pasco, Noon-3 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 3
WSU Tri-Cities Día de los Muertos Celebration Student Union Building on the WSU Tri-Cities campus, 2770 Crimson Way, Richland, 5-7 p.m.
This story was originally published October 31, 2025 at 12:26 PM.