Day of the Dead
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Explore the rich traditions and history of Día de Muertos with our comprehensive free 94-question trivia quiz with answers. Whether you're learning about Day of the Dead for the first time or testing your expertise, this quiz covers everything from ancient origins to modern celebrations. Challenge yourself and discover fascinating facts about this important Mexican holiday!
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Q 01Which 1960 Mexican film set on the Day of the Dead was Oscar-nominated?
Macario
Macario (1960), directed by Roberto Gavaldón and starring Ignacio López Tarso, opens on the Day of the Dead and became the first Mexican film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Q 02What is the primary purpose of building an 'ofrenda' during Day of the Dead celebrations?
To welcome the souls of the departed
The ofrenda exists to welcome the souls of the departed: families set out the dead's favourite foods, marigolds and photographs so the returning spirits feel invited home on November 1 and 2.
Q 03Which bright orange flower decorates Day of the Dead altars, believed to guide spirits with its scent?
Marigolds
The flower's vibrant colour and strong scent are believed to help lead souls from the cemetery back to the family home.
Q 04Which sweet bread, topped with bone-shaped dough, is eaten for Day of the Dead?
Pan de muerto
The name means 'bread of the dead'; the sugar-topped rounds wear twisted dough bones and stand for the cycle of life.
Q 05What is the elegantly dressed female skeleton, from a 1910s satirical broadside, that became a symbol of the Day of the Dead?
La Catrina
La Catrina first appeared around 1910–13 in a satirical broadside and has since become an icon of Mexican identity, sometimes set against the Halloween jack-o'-lantern.
Q 06On which two main dates is the Day of the Dead traditionally celebrated?
November 1st and 2nd
Depending on the locality, festivities may also spill onto October 31 or even November 6.
Q 07Which perforated banners represent the element of wind on an ofrenda?
Papel picado
Papel picado, or traditional paper banners, are used to represent the element of wind on altars. Their delicate, perforated designs allow them to flutter with the slightest breeze.
Q 08Which of these items is traditionally placed on an altar to quench the thirst of returning spirits?
A glass of water
A glass of water is often placed on the altar for the spirits to quench their thirst after their long journey back to the living world.
Q 09What is the fragrant tree resin burned on ofrendas to scare away evil spirits called?
Copal
The aromatic resin was burned ceremonially across pre-Columbian Mesoamerica long before it became an altar staple.
Q 10What are the decorated sugar or clay skulls, often bearing a person's name, called?
Calaveras
Calaveras, or skulls, are a common symbol of the holiday. They appear in edible sugar forms (calaveras de azúcar), papier-mâché decorations, or hand-painted ceramic creations, sometimes personalized with names.
Q 11Which hot, thick masa drink is poured for the living and set on altars for the dead?
Atole
Atole, a hot corn drink thickened with masa, takes its name from Nahuatl ātōlli; it is served to mourners and set on altars for returning souls.
Q 12The holiday's dates came to coincide with which two Catholic feasts?
All Saints' and All Souls' Days
All Saints' and All Souls' Days, November 1 and 2, came to be linked with older Aztec rituals for the dead; in Mexico the first day remembers the young and the second adults.
Q 13Which Aztec festival honouring Mixcóatl, October 20 to November 8, is cited as the closest precursor of the holiday?
Quecholli
Q 21What do families leave out on the Day of the Dead so that visiting spirits can rest after their long journey?
Pillows and blankets
Pillows and blankets are set out so the dead can rest after the trip; in some towns families also spend the whole night beside relatives' graves.
Q 22Toys are brought to the ofrenda for the dead known by which affectionate name?
Los angelitos
Los angelitos, 'the little angels', are deceased children, remembered on November 1 with toys and sweets on the ofrenda; adults instead receive bottles of tequila or mezcal.
Q 23Which Mexican state is known for its Day of the Dead cemetery vigils, especially on the island of Janitzio?
Michoacán
Quecholli, the Aztec month-festival for the hunting god Mixcóatl, ran from about October 20 to November 8; food altars were set near warriors' burial grounds, a practice seen as a forerunner of the ofrenda.
Q 14What savoury food wrapped in corn husks is prepared in large quantities for Day of the Dead offerings?
Tamales
Tamales are one of the most common dishes prepared for the Day of the Dead, both for consumption by the living and as offerings for the spirits of ancestors.
Q 15Indigenous Mesoamerican belief is one root of Day of the Dead; what is the other?
Spanish Catholicism
Spanish Catholicism is the other root: colonial friars folded indigenous rites for the dead into the Church's November feasts, and some historians argue the modern festival is largely a 20th-century reframing of that European tradition.
Q 16Which Mexican name for the holiday's orange flower comes from Nahuatl for 'twenty flower'?
Cempasúchil
Cempasúchil comes from Nahuatl cempōhualxōchitl, 'twenty flower'; twenty was the base of the Aztec counting system, so the name suggests a flower of many petals and of completeness.
Q 17On November 2, Lake Pátzcuaro locals ride candlelit winged boats named after which creature?
Butterflies
The boats carry families to an island cemetery in the middle of the lake for an all-night celebration.
Q 18Which James Bond film's opening inspired Mexico City's first official Día de Muertos parade in 2016?
Spectre
Spectre (2015) opens with a Day of the Dead parade that did not exist; Mexico City staged a real one in October 2016, and a reported 250,000 people turned up.
Q 19Which Aztec goddess, the 'Lady of the Dead,' ruled the underworld and watched over bones?
Mictecacíhuatl
The Aztec goddess Mictecacíhuatl, the 'Lady of the Dead,' was a central figure in ancient celebrations and believed to watch over the bones of the deceased in the underworld.
Q 20Besides candles, what might the bottom tier of an ofrenda hold so the arriving spirit can freshen up?
A washbasin and towel
A washbasin and towel, usually with soap and a mirror, sit on the lowest tier so the visiting spirit can wash and see itself after the long journey from the land of the dead.
Michoacán's Lake Pátzcuaro holds the island of Janitzio, whose Purépecha residents keep candlelit vigils in the hillside cemetery on the night of November 1–2, drawing large crowds every year.
Q 24On traditional 'bread of the dead', the bone-shaped strips arranged in a ring portray what?
The circle of life
The ring of bone-shaped strips stands for the circle of life; the small dough ball on top represents a skull, and some loaves add a baked teardrop for the goddess Chīmalmā's tears.
Q 25The cempasúchil flower belongs to which botanical genus?
Tagetes
Cempasúchil is Tagetes erecta, a tall orange-flowered plant native to Mexico that the Aztecs cultivated for ritual use; growers in Puebla and Michoacán raise millions of the blooms for the holiday.
Q 26In which country is the holiday especially important to the Kichwa, about a quarter of the population?
Ecuador
In Ecuador the Día de los Difuntos matters most to the Kichwa, estimated at about a quarter of the population, though non-indigenous families also clean graves and bring flowers and traditional food and drink.
Q 27Which sweet, made by simmering squash in piloncillo syrup, is a Day of the Dead classic?
Calabaza en tacha
Calabaza en tacha is pumpkin or squash simmered in dark piloncillo sugar syrup with cinnamon; the candied wedges are set on ofrendas and eaten during the Day of the Dead season.
Q 28Historically, what was the holiday's main alcoholic drink?
Pulque
Pulque, fermented from agave sap, was the main alcoholic drink of the holiday in earlier times; modern families set out whatever their departed relative liked best, often tequila or mezcal.
Q 29Which ghost-filled José Zorrilla play is traditionally staged in Spain for the holiday?
Don Juan Tenorio
Don Juan Tenorio, José Zorrilla's 1844 drama whose final act unfolds among statues and spirits in a cemetery, is traditionally staged in Spain around All Saints' Day, one of the holiday's clear trans-Atlantic links.
Q 30Where does the Día de Muertos parade along the Paseo de la Reforma, first held in 2016, take place?
Mexico City
Mexico City's Día de Muertos parade runs along Paseo de la Reforma into the historic centre; it began in 2016 after a fictional version appeared in a James Bond film the year before.