This holiday is celebrated all over the country every September 15th, and is a national holiday.  In most cities and towns of Izabal you will see parades with local schoolchildren, concerts, and other special events.     

Guatemalan celebrations of the Day of the Dead are highlighted by the construction and flying of giant kites in addition to the traditional visits to gravesites of ancestors. A big event also is the consumption of fiambre that is made only for this day during the year. In Izabal, these traditions are followed although the best place to see giant kites is actually in Santiago, close to Antigua.  In Livingston, the commentary comes alive with flower offerings, fresh paint jobs, and local people singing and dancing at the graves of their ancestors.  Day of the dead is on November 1^st.     

National Garifuna Day, which happens every November 26th in Livingston, is actually a week-long celebration of Garifuna culture and traditions.  Livingston comes alive with people singing, drinking, eating, dancing and celebrating in honor of their ancestors. The streets are the stage for the Punta dance and the singing of traditional songs that reflect the hardships of the Garifuna ancestors.  Garifuna from neighboring Honduras, Belize, and Nicaragua often come to help in the celebration. In the early morning on November 25^th, a special ceremony is held on the beach with a reenactment of the first Garifuna settlers arriving in traditional costumes and in traditional cayucas (canoes).