Mexico City’s 32-Meter Catrina Aims for Guinness World Record

Mexico City — The Mexico City Ministry of Culture has announced preparations for the Day of the Dead celebrations, including a mega-offering in the Zócalo and a monumental parade through the capital’s main streets. The ministry highlighted the Zócalo installation, described as a mega altar, and the large-scale parade as central elements of this year’s programming.

Ana Francis López, head of the department, discussed the plans in an interview with Adriana Delgado on the program El Dedo en la Llaga for El Heraldo Radio. López said the programming includes festivals, light shows and the participation of various artistic collectives.

López emphasized that the central objective of the monumental offering is to recapture the classic essence of the Mexican tradition and pay homage to Guadalupe Posada. “The mega-offering we are planning this year has four elements, four very important aesthetic elements,” López said.

For this edition, López added, officials are seeking to set a new record with a large-scale figure that represents equality in the face of death.

“First of all, we have a monumental Catrina that we are aiming to break the Guinness World Record for,” López said. “The largest Catrina in the world is 28 meters tall; the idea is for this one to be 32 meters. It is a Catrina that pays the best tribute to Guadalupe Posada, whose work is the very root of the Catrina figures we see today. It is a critique that Posada makes through these characters, who present very well-dressed, very elegant figures, but with the faces of the dead—that is, in death, we are all equal. That is the essence and the underlying meaning of the Catrinas and Catrines.”

Zócalo Installation and Light Display

In addition to the central piece, López said the Zócalo installation will feature a garden of marigolds from Xochimilco, axolotl figures created by local artists and handcrafted lighting on government buildings made by staff from the Ministry of Public Works.

Citizens were also invited to stroll along Paseo de la Reforma to appreciate the light display installed in the area.

Parade Route and Participating Groups

The Day of the Dead Parade is scheduled for Saturday, the 31st, at 2:00 PM. It will begin at the Diana Cazadora statue and end at the Zócalo.

This year, the call for entries was open to papier-mâché collectives and studios of visual arts, sculpture and design, which submitted proposals for parade floats.

“I should mention that the best papier-mâché in the world is made in and comes from the eastern part of Mexico City, because the strongest Day of the Dead tradition comes precisely from the east, from the town of Mixquic, which is famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations,” López said. “Everyone should go to the Mixquic Day of the Dead celebrations at least once in their life, because it is something you cannot forget.”

More Than 5,000 Activities

The Ministry of Culture invited citizens to consult the complete schedule on the agency’s official website to find out the times and details of the more than 5,000 activities programmed for the season.