Vodou practitioners across Haiti mark Fèt Gede, the festival of the dead, on November 1 and 2. This year All Saints' Day falls on Sunday and All Souls' Day on Monday, with related rituals continuing through November.

The Gede are spirits of the dead. A practitioner's gede is often a departed relative or friend who has become a lwa, a spirit whose name usually begins with “Gede,” such as Gede Loray or Gede Nibo, according to the tourism site Visit Haiti. The family is led by Bawon Samdi, also called Papa Gede, pictured in a top hat and dark glasses, and by Manman Brijit.

Before entering a cemetery, paraders ask permission at the cross of Bawon Samdi, “the first buried,” and at the grave of Manman Brijit. Many dress in black, white and purple, whiten their faces with powder or flour and carry bottles of kleren steeped with hot peppers. Others leave coffee, roasted corn, bread or smoked fish as offerings.

The biggest procession is traditionally held at the Grand Cimetière in Port-au-Prince, whose gate reminds visitors to remember that they are dust. In the Artibonite, a similar rite is known as the fête des Brav, Haïti Liberté noted in an essay on the tradition, and Catholics attend Mass and light candles in the same cemeteries.

The Gede are known for crude jokes and satire, a way of mocking hypocrisy and of treating death as a natural part of life. Writers trace the rite to ancestral traditions of the old kingdom of Dahomey, in today's Benin. This year's festival comes days after the government announced its first budget allocation, 50 million gourdes, for the Vodou sector.