Mérida, Yucatán Hanal Pixán

The Yucatecan Day of the Dead tradition — Hanal Pixán in Yucatec Maya — produces the most elaborate and gastronomically distinct regional celebration, centered on the mucbipollo bread — a massive ground-corn tamale cooked underground in a pib earth oven — and an ofrenda altar constructed around foods specific to the deceased's tastes. The Mérida municipal cemeteries on November 1st are decorated with a visual intensity of cut paper, marigolds, and photos of the dead that rivals Oaxaca.