The Day of the Dead holiday began today. During the holiday, celebrants honor deceased family members. As part of the celebration, families prepare candy skulls, design intricate skeletal figurines and fashion elaborate altars for the dead. They join processions to cemeteries and make offerings of bright orange marigolds, bread and music.
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Candles light up graves in the San Gregorio cemetery during Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico City, early Sunday, Nov. 1. According to tradition, candles are lit to guide wandering souls back to their families. AP / Marco Ugarte
Josefina Guzman, mother of national police officer Jose Guzman, places flowers next to his name at a memorial park in honor of fallen police in commemoration of the Day of the Dead on the outskirts of San Salvador, Sunday, Nov. 1. According to the National Police, 239 officers have died since the creation of the force in 1993. AP / Edgar Romero
People parade in commemoration of the Day of the Dead in Tonacatepeque, outskirts of San Salvador, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Edgar Romero
People parade in commemoration of the Day of the Dead in Tonacatepeque, outskirts of San Salvador, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Edgar Romero
A man performs a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at the national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Ramon Espinosa
A woman takes part in a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at the national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Ramon Espinosa
People take part in a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at the national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Ramon Espinosa
A woman takes part in a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at the national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Ramon Espinosa
A woman takes part in a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at the national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Ramon Espinosa
People take part in a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at the national cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Ramon Espinosa
A man attends a Voodoo ritual during Day of the Dead celebrations at Petionville cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Monday, Nov. 2. AP / Ramon Espinosa
People, some carrying flowers, gather at a cemetery during Day of the Dead celebrations in San Miguel Canoa, central Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Miguel Tovar
A woman and a child sit next to a relative's grave during the Day of the Dead celebrations in San Gregorio, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 31. According to the Mexican Day of the Dead tradition, candles are lit to guide wandering souls back to their families. AP / Marco Ugarte
A woman sits next to a gravesite during Day of the Dead celebrations at the cemetery in Arocutin, Mexico, early Monday, Nov. 2. According to tradition, candles are lit to guide wandering souls back to their families during Day of the Dead. AP / Carlos Jasso
Flowers decorate the entrance of a house during Day of the Dead celebrations in San Miguel Canoa, central Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Miguel Tovar
Vendors transport marigolds by boat at a canal in Xochimilco Lake in Mexico City, Wednesday, Oct. 28. Known as "cempasuchil" in Nahuatl idiom and "flor de muerto" in Spanish, marigolds are purchased throughout the country each year to adorn traditional Day of the Dead altars. AP / Eduardo Verdugo
Leticia Jimenez hangs crosses on the U.S.-Mexico border wall as part of Day of the Dead celebrations in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, Oct. 30. Volunteers from the Pro-migrant Defense Coalition hung 5,100 wooden crosses in honor of 5,100 migrants who have died crossing to the US since 1995, according to their statistics. Day of the Dead is celebrated on Nov. 2, with celebrations beginning late Nov. 1. AP / Guillermo Arias
Picture taken in a corner of Ignacio Zaragoza neighbourhood in Mexico City, on the Day of the Dead on Nov. 1. Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead on Nov. 1 and 2 in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. AFP / Getty Images / Alfredo Estrella
A man mourns beside a relative's grave at San Jose cementery in Mexico City's Santiago neighborhood on Nov. 1. Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead on Nov. 1 and 2 in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints and All Souls. AFP / Getty Images / Alfredo Estrella
A man carries a cross in commemoration of the Day of the Dead at the Nueva Esperanza cemetery in Villa Maria, Lima, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Karel Navarro
Dancers perform a scissor dance in front of a grave in commemoration of the Day of the Dead at the Nueva Esperanza cemetery in Villa Maria, Lima, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Karel Navarro
A man walks through graves during the Day of the Dead at the Nueva Esperanza cemetery in Lima, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Karel Navarro
A boy plays in front of a grave during celebrations of the Day of the Dead at the Nueva Esperanza cemetery in Villa Maria, Lima, Sunday, Nov. 1. AP / Karel Navarro
A woman adorns the tomb of her parents with bread at Villa Ingenio cemetery in El Alto, 25 km from La Paz, as Christians in Latin America mark the Day of the Dead on Nov. 2 -- and All Saints' Day on Nov. 1. AFP / Getty Images / Aizar Raldes
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