Mexico City to decorate 50 avenues with 2.5 million marigolds

Mexico City will place 2.5 million cempasúchil plants on approximately 50 major avenues for the upcoming Día de los Muertos celebrations ^[1].

The initiative integrates local agricultural production with urban cultural preservation. By utilizing native flowers, the city aims to honor the traditional heritage associated with the Day of the Dead while supporting regional growers.

The decoration effort focuses on the city's most prominent thoroughfares, including Reforma and Tlalpan ^[1]. These 50 avenues ^[1] will serve as a public gallery for the marigolds, which are central to the holiday's iconography and are believed to guide the souls of the deceased back to their families.

Floricultores de Xochimilco are providing the greenery for this large-scale installation. The growers from Xochimilco have produced 300,000 of the plants ^[1] to contribute to the total count of 2.5 million ^[1] required for the project. This collaboration highlights the economic link between the city's urban center and its traditional chinampa farming zones.

The deployment of the flowers is scheduled to take place ahead of the festivities, which typically occur in late October and early November ^[1]. The city's decision to use native Mexican flowers is intended to showcase biodiversity, and maintain the authenticity of the cultural celebration.

Organizers said the goal is to celebrate cultural heritage and honor the tradition of using cempasúchil during the holiday period ^[1]. The scale of the installation reflects the city's commitment to transforming public spaces into commemorative environments during the autumn season.