Feature: Mexican, Bolivian cemeteries host Day of Dead celebrations

Mexicans of all ages flocked to cemeteries across the country on Wednesday to visit their deceased families and friends for the Day of the Dead.

In Mexico, this age-old celebration maintains its solemn roots as a genuine outpouring of respect and veneration for those who have gone.

Thousands of people visited over 100 cemeteries in Mexico City, decorating graves with flowers, candles and food. Some even brought mariachis to play the favorite songs of their dearly departed.

Mario Hernandez, a 45-year-old shopkeeper, told Xinhua that he spent the entire night in the Dolores cemetery, with nothing but a blanket and a bouquet of flowers.

He has kept this ritual practice for 10 years to spend time with his parents. "Sometimes, my two brothers and their families come with me. This time, it was difficult as one of them is outside the city and the other had to work."

The Dolores cemetery has around 350,000 graves, including some containing three or four generations of the same family. Since it opened in 1874, the cemetery has gradually become a tourist attraction, with a number of monuments highlighting the souls who rest there.

It is the resting place for numerous Mexican luminaries, including writer Mariano Azuela, painters David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera, Octavio Paz, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature, and actress Dolores del Rio.

"Coming to the cemetery on this day is an opportunity to be with the family, between the living and the deseased. This is a tradition we do not want to lose. We want our children to share it with us," said Marisela Espinoza, 65, who was accompanied by her two daughters, four grandchildren and her sister.

Espinoza suffers from arthritis. Despite the pains from the disease that hampers her walk, but the tradition "gives me the strength to come and show my husband we do not forget him."

Mexicans have celebrated the Day of the Dead since pre-Hispanic times, building offerings on altars and carrying out mystical rituals.

This year, Mexico City revamped its Day of the Dead celebrations, declared by UNESCO to be part of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.

On Saturday afternoon, the biggest Day of the Dead parade in the history of the city danced, thrilled and spooked its way through the streets, from the iconic Angel of Independence to the central Zocalo square.

This was inspired by the opening scene of the James Bond movie, "Spectre," where the British superspy chases a villain through a massive parade complete with giant skulls and costumed dancers. It became so iconic that the city decided to recreate it for real.

Floats topped by giant, grinning skulls, worrisome Aztec warriors painted in black, corpse brides, skeletons on roller blades, Christian crosses covered in marigolds, the various visions of the dead delighted the thousands of people lining the way.

However, Mexicans do not stand alone in celebrating the Day of the Dead. The festival is held across the region, perhaps nowhere more vividly than in Bolivia, where ancestral ceremonies spring back to life every year.

From midday on Tuesday, thousands of altars popped up in cemeteries, public offices, schools and private homes. Foods flourished with bread, cakes, dumplings, fruits, juice and more ringing in the celebration.0 Bolivian protocol and ceremonial expert Fernando Huanacuni told Xinhua that the Day of the Dead dates back to Andean customs, "of family unity and reconciliation with our ancestors and beloved ones."

"Those of us from ancestral peoples, in the Andean world, hope to take this day to reconcile ourselves, to share, to dance, to harmonize, and to pray. This is why we prepare an altar," he added.

The researcher said that the concept of death in traditional Latin American cultures is very different from the Christian vision, seeing it as a "sacred journey."

Bolivians have lined graves with long tables filled with flowers and an abundance of bread and sweets, as well as scenes that depict the relationship between the family and Pachamama (Mother Earth).

Across Bolivia, this festival is also known as "the feast of the souls," for its familial, religious and cultural meanings. Endi