Celebrations of the Day of the Dead around the world

All Saints' Day, falling in Poland on November 1st, is a time of reflection and visiting deceased relatives at the graveyards. It's a public holiday when people can spend time with their families. But is the day of death the same everywhere?

When running an international organization, it is worth knowing when your employees celebrate their public holidays and special occasions. Thanks to this, it's easy to define when they will be absent at work.

Check how the celebration of the Day of the Dead looks in different parts of the world and find out if they are public holidays for your international team. And do not forget to try Calamari for free to manage international leave schedules easily.

In this article, you will learn how the Day of the Dead is celebrated around the world and why different cultures honor their ancestors in unique ways. You will discover how traditions from Mexico, Poland, Japan, China, Bolivia, and more shape the global understanding of life, death, and remembrance. You will also find out which celebrations are public holidays and how they affect international teams.

Poland – All Saints' Day

The Polish day of death is called All Saints' Day, and it's celebrated in honor of Christians who achieved salvation and have a place in heaven. It came to Poland with the Catholic religion. According to its doctrine, it's an expression of faith in saints.

Due to the celebrations, churches organize a special mass. Poles visit the cemetery to put candles and light them on the graves of their deceased relatives. As a public holiday, the 1st of November is a day off for all employees.

It has been like that since the times of the People's Republic of Poland, although at that time the emphasis of the holiday was on its secular nature, and it was called “Day of the Dead” or “Day of the Dead and Fallen."

In front of the Polish cemeteries during All Saints' Day, people set up stands where they're selling candles, flowers, and traditional snacks like bagels, pańska skórka, or Miodek Turecki.

In 2026, All Saints' Day falls on Sunday.

Dziady

Dziady is a Slavic ritual that was supposed to win the favor of the dead, who were considered to be the guardians of fertility. During the ritual, people established relationships with the souls of their ancestors returning to their homes during the celebrations.

As a part of the ritual, souls who came to the world of the living had to be properly hosted to ensure their favor and to help them find peace in the afterlife. People were feeding and watering souls during special feasts prepared in homes.

In some areas, the ritual also included washing and warming the dead ancestors. To do so, people were lighting the fires that were supposed to warm them up and also guide wandering souls to their loved ones. The remnant of this practice is the modern lighting of the candles on the graves.

Due to the battles that Christians waged against pagans and their rites, the celebration of Dziady was forbidden and replaced by All Saints' Day with the accompanying Christian practices.

Dziady isn't a public holiday, but it's still symbolically celebrated in Krakow on the Rękawka Festival, directly related to the ancestors' spring festival.

The Day of the Dead in the World

Communing with death is known to people all over the world. In every known culture, there are rituals and celebrations related to the burial and remembrance of people who have passed away from this world. Among them, there are many interesting and unusual ways to celebrate.

According to recent sociological research, rituals around death – such as ancestral festivals, cemetery visits, or altars – can play an important role in grief work and help the living process loss, maintain family bonds, and reinforce community identity. This indicates that the emotional function of festival-of-the-dead traditions extends beyond cultural symbolism. [Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2025.1620016/full, 2025, How cultural beliefs and rituals may help alleviate grief and mourning across cultures]

Check how and when your international employees celebrate their Day of the Dead. Is it a public holiday for them? Or will they request a day off?

USA, Canada, Ireland, UK, Australia – Halloween

Halloween is a tradition dating back to the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain we mentioned in our last year's article, along with tips on how to celebrate Halloween with a remote team.

Well popularized thanks to American pop culture, Halloween celebrations consist of dressing up as ghosts, ghouls, demons, witches, and other supernatural creatures. Covering the faces is strictly connected to the fact that the 31st of October was the day when the dead came back to the world of the living. People had to hide from them in masks, and thanks to the pumpkin lanterns, they were ensuring safety during ghost night.

While the exact origins of Halloween aren't 100% settled, they're attributed to Ireland. In addition to the Celtic Samhain, it's sometimes also connected to the Roman holiday celebrated in honor of the fruits and seeds deity.

On Halloween night, children and adults dress up in costumes and visit houses for trick-or-treating – collecting the sweets from neighbors. Currently, the very popular practice is to organize dress-up parties.

Halloween is not considered a public holiday, which is why it's not a day off. People can celebrate after work, or they can request a leave day to spend the whole day with their families. In 2021 Halloween falls on Sunday, so the additional day off won't be necessary.

United Kingdom – Guy Fawkes

In Britain, people celebrate not only Halloween. The celebration of Guy Fawkes Night is also a popular day in English folk tradition.

Guy Fawkes was a part of a Catholic group that planned a failed Gunpowder Plot in 1605. It's celebrated on November 5th, the anniversary of the conspiracy – the attack on the king of England and Scotland.

Traditionally, on this day children burn puppets representing the image of Guy Fawkes. The celebrations are also accompanied by fireworks and festivities.

The biggest celebration takes place in Bridgwater on the first Friday of November and is then repeated for a week in other towns, such as Burnham-on-Sea and North Petherton.

Guy Fawkes' Day isn't a public holiday. To celebrate on November 5th, employees would need to take a day off or celebrate after work. Especially in 2026 when it took place on Thursday.

Japan – O-Bon

The Japanese festival of death – O-Bon – is held in the summer. The tradition has been cultivated for over 500 years, even before Buddhism was popularized in the country. For Japanese people, it's one of the most important holidays of the year and is celebrated for 3 days. It takes place on different days in various parts of the country, but the entire celebration lasts between July 13-16 and August 13-16.

During O-Bon, people visit the graves of their deceased relatives with prepared food and drinks and place gifts on the special altars in front of their homes. Celebrations with the ritual O-Bon dance are organized in the cities. By dancing, the Japanese greet the dead who, according to their beliefs, come down to earth.

During the festival, many people put on traditional clothes – summer yukatas – in which they dance to the sound of drums in the evening.

The final phase of the O-Bon celebrations – Toro Nagashi – is the most spectacular one. People light up the rivers, lakes, and seas with thousands of floating lanterns whose task is to lead the dead back to their land.

The most spectacular of the O-Ban festive is the final one organized in Kyoto. In the evening, the Japanese lit the huge fires on the five hills surrounding the city. Using Chinese signs for “dai” 大 (meaning “great”), “myou” 妙, and “hou” 法 they symbolize the miraculous teachings of the Buddha.

O-Bon isn't a public holiday, but many Japanese take a few days off to spend this time with families and visit the cemeteries.

China – Ghost Festival

The Festival of Ghost (Chinese: Sim. 中元节, Chinese. Trad. 中元節, Pinyin zhōngyuánjié), takes place in China on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. According to folk tales, it was established by the Taoist monk Bukong in the 8th century.

In Chinese tradition, the seventh month is a Month of Spirits, during which souls leave the afterworld for 30 days to visit the world of the living. The celebrations take place both in homes and in cemeteries. However, it's not a public holiday, so to take part in the celebrations, people need to request a day off.

The rituals associated with the celebrations include launching reed boats with lanterns and burning paper imitations of money, clothing, and everyday objects in front of the ancestors' tablets.

The Chinese also have another holiday connected to the dead. The Day of the Dead is a national holiday and falls on the 4th  or 6th of April. It's the most important dead holiday in China that starts with cleaning the graves.

People visit graves, offer gifts to their ancestors, and burn incense. Traditionally, the eldest family member lights candles on the graves to win a favor of spirits and good luck for the next year.

Mexico – Dia de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead in Mexico is a public holiday, thanks to which Mexicans are free from work. The celebration is divided into two main parts: October 31st and November 1st, when people remember dead children, and November 1-2, when they remember the adults. According to studies, Día de los Muertos serves as a powerful socializing context: children participate from a very early age – helping build altars, visiting cemeteries, and taking part in rituals – which normalizes the experience of death as part of life rather than something taboo. [Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6883122/, 2019, Embracing Death: Mexican Parent and Child Perspectives on Día de los Muertos]. The history of the holiday itself goes back to pre-Columbian times and dates back several thousand years.

Preparations start a few weeks before. The shops sell accessories related to death, like skulls, masks, and deadheads. People clean their houses, and on the 31st of October, they offer food and drinks to the dead.

On November 1st, families visit graves and decorate them with palm wreaths and flowers. In particular – fleur de Muertos – a variety of marigolds that, according to Mexican beliefs, leads the dead to the altars. In cities, people dress up like the dead and party.

Spain – Dia Todos los Santos/Tosantos

In Spain, the Day of the Dead is held on November 1st. It's a public holiday, so people can stay at home without an additional leave day. In black costumes, they go to cemeteries to decorate the graves with flowers and pray for the souls of the dead, lighting up electric lights.

On the eve of Día de Todos los Santos – on October 31st – Spaniards organize Tosantos in Andalusia. People set up puppets made of animal heads (chickens, fish, pigs) and vegetables decorated to be associated with the world of sport, film, or politics in the marketplaces. The celebration is called Tosantos.

In Catalonia, on October 31st, there's also Castañada – a fiesta during which it's possible to buy grilled chestnuts, baked sweet potatoes, panellets, or huesos de santo (saint's bones – marzipan balls stuffed with yolks and sugar).

Bolivia – Skulls Festival

The Day of the Dead in Bolivia is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd as a public holiday. It's a time of baking bread in the shapes of people, animals, and objects. Each of them has a role to play – for example, to illuminate the ways for souls. Prepared pastries are placed on the table with alcohol, food, cigarettes, and other things that the deceased liked while living.

The meeting with the dead begins at noon when the whole family sits down to feast. During the celebration, everyone is in a good mood because, according to Bolivian beliefs, death is a natural part of the transition to the next stage of life.

Festival of Skulls is another holiday connected to the dead that is celebrated in Bolivia. It takes place on November 8th and is not recognized as a public holiday. During this time, believers bring the skulls of their loved ones to bless.

The bones of the deceased are taken to the cemeteries, served with a cigar and alcohol, and additionally decorated. Bolivians believe that people have several souls, and one of them stays in their remains. That is why the family should take care of the deceased's remains all year round. In gratitude for the care, the kindly deceased fulfill their requests for health, money, and other temporal goods.

Summary

The tradition of celebrating the Day of the Dead in various parts of the world is fascinating and takes place on different days of the year. Therefore, it is worth finding out more about the way your international team's employees celebrate this day. It not only gives the knowledge of when to expect their absence but also allows them to make sure that employees feel comfortable in their work environment.

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