Dia de los Muertos
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
86 free Dia De Los Muertos trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free Dia de los Muertos trivia questions with answers. Dia de los Muertos trivia lives in two places on BrainPickle. This page is the shorter set; the main quiz is Day of the Dead trivia, with our deepest question pool on the topic and a source behind every answer.
30 of 86 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On what dates is Dia de los Muertos traditionally celebrated in Mexico?
November 1 - November 2
The holiday runs November 1 - November 2, the two days when the souls are believed to return; in some localities the festivities stretch from October 31 to as late as November 6.
Q 02What is an ofrenda?
An altar built to honor deceased loved ones
An ofrenda is a decorated altar set up in homes or public spaces to honor and remember deceased loved ones. It typically includes photos, candles, flowers, food, and personal items the deceased enjoyed.
Q 03Which 2017 Pixar movie features Dia de los Muertos as a central theme?
Coco
Pixar's 'Coco' (2017) tells the story of a young boy named Miguel who accidentally enters the Land of the Dead during Dia de los Muertos. The film won two Academy Awards and brought global attention to the holiday.
Q 04What traditional bread is baked specifically for Dia de los Muertos?
Pan de muerto
Pan de muerto is a sweet, sugar-dusted bun baked in the weeks before the holiday and placed on ofrendas for the returning spirits; bakeries sell it from mid-October through early November.
Q 05Which Yucatán chicken dish is cooked in an underground pit for the holiday and eaten over following days?
Mukbil pollo
Mukbil pollo (mucbipollo) is a large chicken-and-masa tamal wrapped in banana leaves and baked in a pib, an underground oven, for Yucatán's Hanal Pixán; 'mukbil' means buried in Maya.
Q 06In what year was Mexico's Day of the Dead festivity inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List?
2008
Mexico's Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008, after being proclaimed a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage in 2003.
Q 07What resin incense is burned during Dia de los Muertos to purify the space and guide spirits?
Copal
Copal is a tree resin that has been burned in Mesoamerican rituals for thousands of years. During Dia de los Muertos, its fragrant smoke is believed to purify the ofrenda and help guide the spirits of the dead back to their families.
Q 08November 1 of the holiday is set aside for which group of the departed?
Children (angelitos)
November 1, Día de los Angelitos, honors children who have died; toys and sweets are set out for them, while the adults honored on November 2 get tequila, mezcal, pulque or atole.
Q 09What is the Aztec name for the underworld or Land of the Dead?
Mictlan
Mictlan was the Aztec underworld ruled by Mictlantecuhtli and his consort; the dead faced a long journey of trials to reach it, with the psychopomp Xolotl aiding them along the way.
Q 10Which muralist gave the skeleton lady a full body and Tehuana dress in 'Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park'?
Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera painted 'Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park' in 1947 for the Hotel del Prado's restaurant, placing a full-bodied Catrina at the center of a crowd of figures from Mexican history.
Q 11What are calaveras literarias?
Mock epitaphs for living people
Calaveras literarias are satirical verses written as mock epitaphs for living people, often politicians, describing Death carrying them off; Mexican newspapers have printed them around the holiday since the 19th century.
Q 12The Alumbrada, when a cemetery glows with candles on November 2, climaxes festivities in which Mexico City community?
San Andrés Mixquic
San Andrés Mixquic, a village in the borough of Tláhuac once ringed by chinampas, holds the Alumbrada on the night of November 2, when thousands of candles light its churchyard cemetery.
Q 13What do families typically do at cemeteries during Dia de los Muertos?
Q 21Which Mexican region is famous for the Purepecha Dia de los Muertos celebrations on the island of Janitzio?
Michoacan
Lake Patzcuaro in Michoacan, and especially the island of Janitzio, is world-famous for its Dia de los Muertos celebrations. The Purepecha people hold dramatic candlelit cemetery vigils that draw visitors from around the globe.
Q 22How many levels did the Aztecs believe the dead passed through in the underworld before their final rest?
Nine
The journey was said to take four years, past obstacles such as clashing mountains and obsidian winds, with the god Xolotl aiding the dead.
Q 23Which sugar-paste craft, centred on Toluca, produces the holiday's moulded skulls, rabbits and coffins?
Alfeñique
Clean and decorate the graves
Families clean and decorate the graves with marigolds, candles and food, and in places such as Mixquic, Pátzcuaro and Janitzio they keep vigil beside them through the night.
Q 14What is the purpose of placing the deceased's favorite foods and drinks on the ofrenda?
To feed the visiting spirits
The foods and drinks are set out to feed the visiting spirits, who are believed to take in the aroma and essence of the offerings after their long journey home.
Q 15Which Catholic holidays coincide with Dia de los Muertos?
All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day
All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day fall on November 1 and 2, the same days as Día de los Muertos; the holiday blends pre-Columbian death rituals with Catholic traditions brought by Spanish colonisers.
Q 16Why is a glass of water traditionally left on the ofrenda?
To quench the thirst of returning souls
To quench the thirst of returning souls after the long journey to the land of the living; some altars also carry a washbasin, soap, a mirror and a towel so the spirit can freshen up.
Q 17In Pixar's 2017 film set in the Land of the Dead, what causes a spirit to fade from existence for good?
Being forgotten by all the living
Héctor's whole bargain with Miguel hinges on getting his photo onto an ofrenda before his daughter forgets him.
Q 18Which Aztec Queen of the Underworld is considered a precursor to Dia de los Muertos?
Mictecacihuatl
Her role was to watch over the bones of the dead and preside over the ancient festivals of the dead; legend says she was born, then sacrificed as an infant.
Q 19What do the strips of dough laid across the top of the sweet bread baked for the holiday represent?
The bones of the deceased
The strips represent the bones of the deceased, often arranged in a circle to portray the circle of life, with the central ball of dough standing for a skull.
Q 20The Día de los Muertos period also marks the completion of the annual cultivation cycle of which Mexican crop?
Maize
Maize is Mexico's predominant food crop; families believe the dead can repay a well-executed ritual with an abundant harvest, or punish a careless one with illness or financial trouble.
Alfeñique is a paste of powdered sugar, lemon and chautle, a plant-based adhesive, molded into skulls, rabbits and coffins; Toluca hosts a Feria del Alfeñique each autumn, and the word comes from Arabic via Spain.
Q 24On an ofrenda, lit candles stand for which of the four elements?
Fire
Candles stand for fire among the four elements; their flame is also read as the light that guides the dead back home, and some families light one extra candle for a soul with no one to remember it.
Q 25Salt placed on the ofrenda chiefly symbolizes what?
Purification
Salt stands for purification: it is meant to keep the body of the departed from corrupting during its journey to and from the altar, and some families shape it into a small cross.
Q 26Which 2014 animated film, produced by Guillermo del Toro, also features Dia de los Muertos themes?
The Book of Life
'The Book of Life' (2014), produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, features a story set during Dia de los Muertos. It follows Manolo, who must travel through the Land of the Remembered and the Land of the Forgotten.
Q 27Historically, which drink was the main alcoholic offering on the holiday's altars?
Pulque
Pulque, the milky fermented sap of the maguey, was the main alcoholic offering in earlier centuries; modern families pour whatever their departed relative preferred, from beer to mezcal.
Q 28In Oaxaca, elaborate ground-level pictures called tapetes are laid out for the holiday using what material?
Sand
Tapetes de arena are pictures laid out in colored sand, with seeds, sawdust and flower petals often worked in; they are swept away once the celebrations end.
Q 29What prompted Mexico City to stage its first large-scale Day of the Dead parade on October 29, 2016?
A James Bond film's opening scene
Spectre's 2015 opening was shot around the Zócalo; the real parade it inspired drew 250,000 people in its first year.
Q 30What are calacas?
Skeleton figures and masks
Calacas are skeleton figures and masks, from clay figurines to costumed dancers; they are almost always shown joyous rather than mournful, dancing, drinking or playing music among marigolds.