Mexicans began celebrating the Day of the Dead - a time to honour deceased relatives and loved ones, with vigils and homemade altars filled with flowers, food, and photographs — starting with tributes for babies and children believed to return home first.

From Friday night through Saturday morning, families brought a variety of offerings to encourage the souls of the dead to return home and hear the prayers of their loved ones.

The celebration begins on October 31, when families welcome the souls of children who have died, continues on November 1 with sweets and toys for the little ones believed to return, and ends on November 2, when adults are honoured with their favourite foods and drinks.

Observances include entire families cleaning and decorating graves, which are covered with orange marigolds, or cempasuchil, believed to guide spirits back with their bright colour and scent.

At both cemeteries and home altars, relatives light candles and set out the favourite foods and beverages of their departed loved ones.

They do so to reconnect with their dead just as their ancestors have done for centuries.

For many in communities like Tzintzuntzan, on the shores of Lake Patzcuaro in the western state of Michoacan, it is also about preserving the essence of their traditions, as celebrations in popular hubs have increasingly been marked by mass tourism and commercialization.

The Day of the Dead dates back to ancient Indigenous civilizations.

No one knows when the first observance took place, but it is rooted in agriculture-related beliefs from Mexico’s pre-Hispanic era.

When Spanish colonizers arrived, and began forcing Catholicism upon Indigenous communities, they would mix Indigenous traditions with Catholic holidays.

AP video shot by Martín Silva Rey