Mexico City is launching an online Day of the Dead altar contest to allow citizens to celebrate the holiday from home and share images of their altars.  

Citizens who create altars honoring loved ones who have passed away are invited to take photos of their creations and upload them to the Ministry of Culture’s social media sites with the hashtag #OfrendaInfinita, or “Infinite Offering.” 

The best photos will be published on October 31 to Facebook, Twitter and the ministry’s website.

Also posted will be photos of altars at the capital city’s museums and those created by artists.

The top 100 photos will be entered in a contest on Instagram with winners announced at noon on November 6. 

The photos will then be shown in open-air art galleries around the city, as well as at Mexican consulates in cities around the globe. Winners will receive bus passes, Xochimilco tours and free tickets for the Six Flags Mexico amusement park.

In addition to the contest, officials announced that monuments in Mexico City will be illuminated in orange until November 6.

And on November 1 at 8 p.m. the city’s lights will be turned off for 10 minutes in honor of the victims of Covid-19. Residents are also encouraged to light a candle on behalf of medical personnel and families of the deceased.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Promotion Fund is encouraging people to buy Day of the Dead bread, snap a photo of themselves soaking the bread in hot chocolate or coffee and upload the photo to Instagram with the hashtag #ChopeandoElPan or “DunkingBread.” 

Cemeteries in Mexico City will be closed over the holidays and the traditional Day of the Dead parade will be an online event this year due to the pandemic. 

Source: El Financiero (sp)