When Catholic missionaries flooded the new world in the wake of the
conquistadores, they found many traditions that the natives were not willing to give up. One of these was Day of the Dead, a month long celebration celebrating death. Unable to kill the ritual, the Catholics simply shortened the holiday to 2 days and moved it to All Saints and All Souls Days, November 1st & 2nd (those high Catholic days themselves having been assigned to November to try to assimilate the pagan holiday of Samhain). Many of the old Aztec rituals are still in place today, with parades and altars dedicated to the deceased and decorated with their favourite foods and sugar skulls (back in the day, the skulls would have been real). In Toluca, for a few weeks before Día de los Muertos, they hold their annual fair where you can buy all of your altar needs. This seriously rocked.
Chocolate skulls are a rather new tradition.
When Catholic missionaries flooded the new world in the wake of the conquistadores, they found many traditions that the natives were not willing to give up. One of these was Day of the Dead, a month long celebration celebrating death. Unable to kill the ritual, the Catholics simply shortened the holiday to 2 days and moved it to All Saints and All Souls Days, November 1st & 2nd (those high Catholic days themselves having been assigned to November to try to assimilate the pagan holiday of Samhain). Many of the old Aztec rituals are still in place today, with parades and altars dedicated to the deceased and decorated with their favourite foods and sugar skulls (back in the day, the skulls would have been real). In Toluca, for a few weeks before Día de los Muertos, they hold their annual fair where you can buy all of your altar needs. This seriously rocked.
Chocolate skulls are a rather new tradition. 
Just walking around the place could send someone into a diabetic coma. They had so many weird things to eat (or for your dead to eat), and one was this candied, shredded coconut stuffed into limes.
These were just creepy.
These were bite-sized.
There was an abundance of tiny sugar or marzipan food.
Also, a lot of odd sugar animals. No one in our group spoke enough Spanish to figure out their significance.
There was on site a competition hosted for the artisans. The folks who make the sugar skulls begin in the springtime to keep up with demand.
La Catrina and her beau were there to pose with the children for photos. They were both very nice, making it hard for the smaller kids to be terrified of the calacas (dressed up skeletons).
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