PHOTOS: Hundreds gather for Día de los Muertos at Atlanta’s historic Oakland Cemetery

On a crisp and overcast Sunday November afternoon, hundreds of Atlanta area residents filled the tree-lined blocks and alleys of the historic Oakland Cemetery for the annual Día de los Muertos festival, where marigold garlands, papel picado, sugar skulls, and photos of loved ones who had passed from this world adorned carefully curated ofrendas, or altars.

Organized by the Consulate General of Mexico and the Institute of Mexican Culture, plus volunteers with other local organizations, the historic cemetery, known for its graves of Confederate and Union soldiers, along with Georgia icons like Margaret Mitchell and Maynard Jackson, was filled with bursts of color, bustling rows of local vendors, and lively mariachi music. A beloved Mexican tradition with origins among the Aztec, Toltec and other Nahua people, Día de los Muertos is devoted to honoring one’s ancestors and companions, often through ofrendas dedicated to the departed and their favorite items, candles, flowers, and other sentimental trinkets.

For their first-ever ofrenda at the cemetery, Karen Maraziegos had driven 18 hours to Mexico, along with her colleague from Fischer Funeral Care, to get items they could include. In the middle of it, she explained, were photos of the people who had been repatriated. “It was just something that we always wanted to do,” said Karen, whose parents moved to the U.S. from Guatemala, and who grew up celebrating Día de los Muertos. The ofrenda was “something we wanted to do to honor the families that we served in the past.”

Around half of the cases the Chamblee-based funeral home handles, she said, are working with families and consulates to repatriates loved ones to their home countries: mostly Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, but also occasionally countries including India and Nigeria. “We actually are one of the four funeral homes that work directly with the Mexican consulate to help with repatriation,” she said. The funeral home had applied to set up an ofrenda, she explained, for the past three years. This was the first year their application had been accepted.

Among the items Karen handpicked from Mexico are the sugar skulls, and the bride and groom on the steps of the altar. “You can’t really find everything here,” she said. Her family is from an area close to the Guatemala-Mexico border, “We’re right there, like literally crossing the river,” and honoring their loved ones this time of year, she said. “It’s just something that is really dear to our hearts.”

Steps away from Fischer Funeral Home’s ofrenda, was Lia Sanchez, founder of Community EsTr(El/La), a LatinX and queer led nonprofit supporting immigrant rights. Their ofrenda honored the lives of those in the social justice movement; among them, Manuel Esteban Páez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, a Stop Cop City activist who was shot by law enforcement.

Palestinian political activist Jawahir Kamil also joined Sanchez at the Community Estrella ofrenda to honor and speak about the 1 out of 30 people in Gaza killed since Israel launched its genocide against Palestinians three years ago.

Near the cemetery bell tower, nonprofit El Refugio, which supports immigrants detained at Stewart Detention Center and their families, held a vigil for those who have died in ICE custody. Executive director Amílcar Valencia strummed his guitar in tribute as festival attendees browsed an ofrenda adorned with illustrations of monarch butterflies flying over photos and names of the deceased.

Ofrendas decorated with dog and cat treats sprinkled between photos of furry friends could be found at nearly every corner in tribute to the many beloved deceased companion animals gone too soon.

Despite the long lines for mouthwatering Mexican tacos and the looming threat of rain, the 2026 festival was a hit. Just an hour into Sunday’s gathering, Atlantans from all walks of life seemed to cover every inch of concrete running through the cemetery’s original six acres — and an empty chair felt impossible to find at the focal point of the event, where hundreds sat and watched vibrant live performances, elotes in hand.