El Día de los Muertos, known as Day of The Dead, is a Mexican holiday dedicated to honor and celebrate loved ones that have passed on. This holiday is celebrated October 31 through November 2. Although it is primarily a Mexican holiday, it is celebrated in many parts of Latin America as well (The Independent).

For the holiday, families and friends honor their late loved ones by creating alters, lighting candles, making their favorite dishes, wearing traditional clothing, and applying face paint (NBC News). The celebration also includes parades and gatherings.

According to The Independent, the face paint that is used during El Día de los Muertos has meaning. Yellow represents sun and unity, white is used to depict the spirit and purity, red represents life or the blood of life, purple represents the understandable mourning that is felt by those who lose loved ones, and pink signifies happiness.

Northmont’s Spanish department celebrates this day each year by allowing students to bring in food and/or paint their face for extra credit.

Ms. Sarah Gosser’s second period class (pictured above) celebrated El Dia de los Muertos by planning a celebration with traditional foods and a Spanish-centered film, “The Book Of Life.”

According to NPR, this year, Day of the Dead celebrations are taking place in major cities across the U.S., including San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale, Fl.