Day of the Dead indulgence

I'm indulging myself with a few cemetary shots before I move back to art.  I had heard about the celebrations in the cemetaries for Day of the Dead, but I had no idea how extensive they were.   We visited three cemetaries at different stages of festivities, each with its own personality.  These shots are all from the day after the big fiesta at Xoxocatlan in Oaxaca.   My night shots aren't worth posting, but night adds a new magic to the place with candles, music, big pots of communal food and families packed in everywhere.

I loved the range of gravestones, from elaborate sculptural pieces to a wooden cross stuck in the ground propped up by a few rocks.  Each one decorated in its own way.

Coxcomb and marigolds are the traditional flowers for Day of the Dead, so red-violet, yellow and orange are everywhere.  This is one of the tapetes (tapestries) made of flowers:

And papale picado, the cut paper banners:

These sort were my favorites, lovingly made of whatever could be scavenged.  Some (in background) were caged in cyclone fence, not sure what they were caging in or out:

Halloween is creeping into some of the decorations: