Day of the Dead at the Peabody Museum

Elaborately dressed as elegant skeletons and wearing “sugar skull” makeup or just party clothes, guests filled the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology’s Latin American galleries on Saturday night. Once a year, the Peabody Museum partners with the Mexican Consulate in Boston to celebrate Day of the Dead with a fiesta. This year, guests were treated to live music by eight members of student group Mariachi Véritas de Harvard and Trio Olin.

During Day of the Dead, the souls of departed loved ones are welcomed back to earth for a few special hours. In Mexico, families prepare altars at home and travel to their loved ones’ graves which they decorate with bright yellow marigolds, family photos, candles, religious images, offerings of food and drink, and even special objects loved by the deceased in life.