From October 31st through November 2nd, a number of festivals, holidays and solemnities take place, all loosely related and revolving around remembrance of the dead. Halloween, Samhain, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day, the Day of the Dead and other festivals trace their origins back to Celtic, Aztec, Roman and Christian traditions. Halloween is largely a secular observation these days, All Souls and All Saints remain mainly Catholic observations, and the Day of the Dead is still largely a Latin American tradition, its roots in Mexico's Aztec heritage. Collected here are photographs over the past week from the varied observations of the Days of the Dead around the world.
A skull covered in marigolds rests in front of a wall of graves during preparations for a massive altar in the San Fernando Cemetery in Mexico City, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. Workers added thousands of marigolds, known in Mexico as "cempasuchil," to giant skull images Tuesday as they prepare to observe the of Day of the Dead.
Women in fancy dress attend a charity Halloween parade in Hong Kong on October 31, 2009.
Four-year-old Dakota Magnuson, of Boise, Idaho, clutches her pumpkin while walking around the Wissel family pumpkin patch, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009, outside Nampa, Idaho.
Miranda Galan (center) was one of 80 third grade children from the North School that made a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on a field trip from New Hampshire on October 30th, 2009. In the spirit of Halloween students got a surprise gift from MFA director Malcolm Rogers and Bob Gallery, Masachusetts President of Bank of America when they handed out Egyptian masks and toured the "Secrets of Tomb 10A" exhibit.
The White House is illuminated with orange light for Halloween as people gather at the North Portico of the White House in Washington on October 31, 2009.
Performers greet local school children as they arrive for a Halloween reception by U.S. President Barack Obama and his family at the White House in Washington, October 31, 2009.
US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet trick or treaters at the North Portico of the White House as they celebrate Halloween in Washington, DC, on October 31, 2009. The First couple welcomed more than 2,000 children from Washington, Maryland and Virginia schools and their families to celebrate Halloween.
"Powder" participates in the annual Halloween dog parade, wearing a homemade python costume in the Belle Meade neighborhood of Miami, Florida on October 18, 2009.
A giant puppet is held up by handlers shortly before the start of the Village Halloween Parade Saturday Oct. 31, 2009 in New York.
Queens Ana Maria Sosof Pacach, 19, right, and Glenda Araceli Kua Ajsac, 15, pose for a picture prior to the ceremony in which the new Todos Santos' Queen will be elected in Todos Santos, northwestern Guatemala, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, part of the local observation of the feast of All Saints, for which the town is named.
Children wear costumes to celebrate the Day of the Dead as they visit an altar assembled by artists for the dead at the National Autonoma University of Mexico in Mexico City October 30, 2009. The university dedicated altars assembled by artists to the late U.S. writer Edgar Allan Poe, to commemorate the bicentenary of his birth.
A woman visits the grave of her son in Mazatlan Villa de Flores cemetery, during the Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico on November 1, 2009.
A man performs a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at the national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009.
Giant kites made by residents of Sumpango, in the municipality of Sacatepequez, some 48 km west of Guatemala City, Guatemala, for celebrating All Saints day on November 1, 2009.
Skulls and bones (and a jack-o-lantern) are displayed in the Capuccini cemetary in Palermo, Italy on October 29, 2009.
18 month old Benjamin Hong, of Brighton, Massachusetts stops to check out his pumpkin while trick or treating along Washington Street in Brighton on October 30th, 2009.
People dressed as zombies attend a march to celebrate Halloween, on October 31, 2009, in Paris, France.
A silhouette of a local resident is seen in front of thousands of candles at the Zagreb's main Mirogoj cemetery, in Croatia on November 1, 2009. Thousands of citizens visited Mirogoj to mark the All Saints day.
People parade in commemoration of the Day of the Dead in Tonacatepeque, on the outskirts of San Salvador, El Salvador on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009.
Carlos Estrada of Santa Rosa, entertains motorists under the Highway 12 overcrossing at Olive Street as he brings up the rear of an immigrant march that started on Sebastopol Road and ended at Santa Rosa's city hall, Saturday Oct. 31, 2009 in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Children light candles as they offer prayers for departed loved ones to mark All Souls' Day at the cemetery of Holy Rosary church in Dhaka, Banngladesh on November 2, 2009.
Girls in ladybug and bee outfits take part in "Harajuku Omotesando Hello Halloween Pumpkin Parade 2009" in Tokyo October 25, 2009. Some 1,000 children in Halloween outfits took part in the parade on Sunday.
A Ring-tailed lemur at Bristol Zoo Gardens investigates a carved pumpkin that had been left as a special Halloween treat in its enclosure on October 28, 2009 in Bristol, England. The gift of the pumpkin does have a serious side, as they are a great addition to the animals' regular diet as they are high in vitamins, potassium, protein and fiber - as well as being the perfect enrichment toy, since the animals have to delve inside to reach the succulent flesh and plump seeds.
