Mexico City Parade Draws 1.6 Million to Streets for 10th Anniversary

Mexico City recorded 1.6 million participants in the tenth edition of the Grand Day of the Dead parade on Saturday. The event took place on Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, transforming the usual gray streets into a corridor of purple, orange, and yellow.

The procession began at 2:00 p.m. local time at the Diana Cazadora roundabout. It moved toward the Zocalo, where a monumental Catrina statue stands. The structure measures more than 33 meters in height. Approximately 4,000 artists joined the march, including giant skeletons and float drivers.

Isabel Halsey, a 37-year-old tourist from the United States, described the atmosphere as colorful and dramatic. She noted the presence of people from many different nationalities. Vendors sold flower headdresses and masks along the route. One popular stall featured makeup artists who transformed attendees into stylized skulls for 11 dollars.

Angie Covarrubias, 29, applied makeup to a tourist while eight others waited in line. She said the demand for face painting was high. The economic impact of the holiday is substantial. Projections estimate the celebrations will generate 53 billion pesos, roughly 2.944 billion dollars. This figure is 7 percent higher than the total for 2025.

Miguel Angel Mancera, the former mayor of Mexico City who organized the first parade in 2016, said the event was inspired by a scene in the James Bond film Spectre. In that movie, the spy walks through a crowd of costumed dead in the city center. Mancera stated that residents began asking when the parade would happen after seeing the film.

Naomi Tomi, a 27-year-old visitor from Japan, said she planned her trip around the holiday after watching the 2017 movie Coco. She called the experience better than she expected. Roberto Montalvo, an academic at Ibero University, explained that the tradition has shifted from intimate family visits to cemeteries into a massive public event designed to attract international visitors.

Heidi Meza, 50, has attended the parade since 2021. She noted that those seeking the original tradition should visit places like Michoacan. She described the city event as a spectacle intended to draw in foreigners.