Mexico City hosted its first ever Day of the Dead parade on Saturday (29 October) in a bid to attract more tourists to the city. Though the day is usually marked in other ways, the opening scene in the 2015 James Bond film Spectre showed Daniel Craig as Bond chasing a villain through a huge carnival procession.
Speaking to the BBC, Mexico Tourism Boards chief exec Lourdes Berho said the film had created expectations that we would have something.
We knew that this was going to generate a desire on the part of people here, in Mexicans and among tourists, to come and participate in a celebration, a big parade, she added.
With much-publicised drug-related violence in Mexico in recent years, the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices (FCO) official guidance advises travellers that crime and violence are serious problems in Mexico and the security situation can pose a risk for foreigners.
However, the FCO guidelines add that the Mexican government makes a concerted effort to protect major tourist destinations.
Car-jacking, street crime and even kidnappings are not uncommon, according to the FCO. However, the travel website Lonely Planet emphasises that Mexico City has a crime rate of roughly one-third that of Washington DC, putting potential visitors minds at rest by adding that grisly drug-related murders do not usually take place within popular tourist destinations.
The parade, which took place on Saturday between 2pm and 6pm local time, began on Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, the main arterial road through the city. It comprised colourful floats, dancers and giant puppets and featured hundreds of performers.
Day of the Dead, or Dia de Muertos as it is known locally, is a Mexican holiday which honours the souls of the dead and is described by the Mexico Tourism Board as one of the most representative traditions of Mexican culture. Traditionally, Mexicans have celebrated the public holiday by holding a picnic at either a shrine or at relatives gravesides.
The festival has been recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on its representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since late 2003, due to its unique reflection of Mexicos cultural and social identity.
