Dead come walking at Mexico's skeleton parade

Mexicans parade through their capital dressed as skeletons in the run up to the Day of the Dead. The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey. In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. (Photo: AP/ AFP)

A woman dressed as Mexico's iconic "Catrina" awaits the start of the Grand Procession of the Catrinas, part of upcoming Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico City. The image depicts a female skeleton dressed only in a hat befitting the upper class outfit of a European of her time. Her chapeau en attende is related to European styles of the early 20th century. She is offered as a satirical portrait of those Mexican natives who, Posada felt, were aspiring to adopt European aristocratic traditions in the pre-revolution era. (AP)

The figure of a skeleton wearing an elegant broad-brimmed hat was first done as a satirical engraving by artist Jose Guadalupe Posada sometime between 1910 and his death in 1913. (Photo: AP)

Popularised by the James Bond film Spectre last year, the Day of the Dead parades were not held with so much of pomp and splendor before that. Couples proved romance is not dead in the afterlife during the parade. (Photo: AFP)

People march in the Grand Procession of the "Catrinas," part of upcoming Day of the Dead celebrations. The holiday is sometimes called Día de los Muertos in Anglophone countries, a back-translation of its original name, Día de Muertos. (Photo: AP)

Make-up artists were on hand all day to make participants look like La Catrina, the name given to an elegant skeletal figure popular in Mexican culture. (Photo: AFP)

Montserrat Ramirez, dressed as a skeleton bride, poses for pictures during the Grand Procession of the "Catrinas," part of upcoming Day of the Dead celebrations. (Photo: AP)

It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a public holiday. Prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration took place at the beginning of summer. Gradually, it was associated with October 31, November 1 and November 2 to coincide with the Western Christian triduum of Allhallowtide: All Saints' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. (Photo: AFP)

A costumed woman awaits the start of the Grand Procession of the "Catrinas." Originally, the Day of the Dead as such was not celebrated in northern Mexico, where it was unknown until the 20th century because its indigenous people had different traditions. (Photo: AP)

A woman has her face painted ahead of the Grand Procession of the "Catrinas." The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico developed from ancient traditions among its pre-Columbian cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors had been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. (Photo: AFP)

People dressed as Mexico's iconic "Catrina" march in the Grand Procession of the Catrinas. La Calavera Catrina ('Dapper Skeleton', 'Elegant Skull') is a 1910–1913 zinc etching by famous Mexican printmaker, cartoon illustrator and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada. (Photo: AP)

People march in the Grand Procession of the "Catrinas." (Photo: AP)