In Southern Mexico sugar skulls are a traditional folk art used to celebrate the Day of the Dead. Brightly colored sugar skulls are sold by Indian vendors in the village markets the week before the holiday. People believe that spirits of their dead family members are welcomed back with beautiful altars decorated with candles, sugar skulls, flowers such as marigolds, incense and food. The families then take the altar decorations to the cemetery to adorn the graves on November 2.
