Día de Muertos, experienced from within.
8 days of art, tradition, ceremony, food & remembrance
Día de Muertos, experienced from within. Come for the beauty. Leave with a memory embedded in your soul.
Día de Muertos, experienced from within. Come for the beauty. Leave with a memory embedded in your soul.
Oaxaca at Día de Muertos is unlike anywhere else on earth. The streets fill with marigolds, candlelight, and music. Altars overflow with photographs, food, and memory. The dead are not simply mourned—they are welcomed home.
Led by Oaxaca-raised artist Gabriela Domville, this retreat is an immersion into the living traditions of Día de Muertos—not as spectators, but as guests welcomed into something ancient and alive. Ceremony, food, art, wandering, and moments of stillness are woven together across eight unforgettable days.
No artistic experience required. Just curiosity, an open mind, and a willingness to be moved.
When the border between worlds dissolves
Día de Muertos · Oaxaca · October 24–31, 2026
WHY THIS RETREAT IS DIFFERENT
You don’t have to make something yourself to fall in love with the people who do. Some of my closest friends in Oaxaca don’t paint or sew—they weave, they distill, they carve. This is why what I’m building isn’t just for artists. It’s for anyone who wants to slow down, look closer, and connect with the people who keep these traditions alive.
This retreat invites you to experience Oaxaca from within. Rather than checking sights off a list, the focus is on presence, curiosity, and connection. You show up as a guest, not a tourist—welcomed into homes, cemeteries, markets, workshops, and celebrations that have been part of Oaxacan families’ lives for generations.
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Learn the meaning behind each element of the ofrenda—marigolds, copal, pan de muerto, photographs—and hear from Oaxacan families who have built them for generations.
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Walk alongside Oaxacan families during the candlelit cemetery vigils of Dia de Muertos. Witness ritual as it has been practiced for generations—intimate, living, and real.
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Morning mercado visits, a hands-on cooking class, and dinners at some of Oaxaca's most celebrated tables including a Michelin-starred restaurant. Oaxaca is one of the world's great food cultures, and we experience it from every angle: markets, kitchens, and the best of the best. We eat slowly, together, and with intention.
What to Expect
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Visits to artisan villages, ofrenda builders, and weavers working in generations-old traditions. A retreat that listens before it speaks.
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Every day holds unscheduled time for wandering, writing, or simply sitting with the city.
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Together we build a group altar honoring those we have loved and lost. It stays in Oaxaca when we leave.
Immersion in Oaxaca
Oaxaca is one of the most culturally diverse regions in Mexico—a single state home to dozens of Indigenous cultures, each with its own language, traditions, and ways of understanding the world. Zapotec, Mixtec, Mazatec, Chinantec, Mixe, and many others coexist here, shaping daily life through textiles, architecture, ritual, and food. Cobblestone streets, vibrant markets, murals, colonial architecture, and cultural spaces form the backdrop of your days, while museum visits reveal how pre-Hispanic history and contemporary life continue to converse through pattern, geometry, and color.
Meals are an extension of the experience. From countryside lunches to rooftop dinners, Oaxacan cuisine shifts from region to region, layered moles, corn in countless forms, cacao, mezcal, and local herbs. Shared tables create moments of presence and conversation, where culture is not observed from a distance but lived, tasted, and shared.
Meet Your Instructor
Meet Your Instructor
Gabriela Domville
Oaxaca-Raised Artist • Teacher • Cultural Bridge
Gabriela Domville is an artist whose work moves between painting, book arts, and the ritual objects of everyday life. Her retreats are known not for instruction, but for presence—the permission to show up fully, be moved, and let the experience be yours.
She has led art retreats internationally for over a decade and has a deep connection to Oaxacan artistic traditions. She speaks fluent Spanish and navigates the culture with warmth, curiosity, and respect.
In her retreats, the schedule is a suggestion and the city is the studio.
Dates:
October 24–31, 2026
Duration:
7 nights / 8 days
Location:
Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
Group Size:
Intimate — 12 spots
Meals:
All meals and gratuities for included meals.
What's Included
Activities:
Museum entrance, cooking class, candle making, altar materials, art-making, and gourd-carving class.
Hotel & Transportation:
Your stay at Hotel Azul is included, along with all transportation for the retreat's activities and excursions.
Your Days in Oaxaca
Saturday, Oct 24
Settle into Hotel Azul and meet the group over a welcome cocktail as the retreat begins.
Sunday, Oct 25
A leisurely brunch at one of the most renowned restaurants in Oaxaca. Walk through Oaxaca de Juárez, exploring its cobblestone streets, colonial facades, and the rhythm of a city already filling with marigolds ahead of Día de Muertos.
Monday, Oct 26
A visit to the Zapotec weaving capital of Oaxaca, where generations of families continue the region’s extraordinary tradition of handwoven textiles and natural dyes. The day includes traditional candle making with the oldest candle maker and a collage session with Gabriela, inspired by the patterns and colors of the valley.
Tuesday, Oct 27
Morning at the mercado buying ingredients, followed by a hands-on Oaxacan cooking class learning the layered moles, fresh masa, and local ingredients that define the region's cuisine.
Wednesday, Oct 28
Wander through Etla’s historic market, a gathering place for communities from across the Etla Valley and surrounding regions, then visit C.A.S.A. (Centro de las Artes de San Agustín), a 19th-century textile factory reborn as Latin America's first ecological arts center, founded by Oaxacan artist Francisco Toledo. The day closes with a traditional gourd-carving session.
Thursday, Oct 29
Wander through Jalatlaco, one of Oaxaca’s oldest neighborhoods—a former Zapotec village turned barrio of color-splashed walls, cobbled streets, and street art. In the evening, visit the panteón (cemetery) for the candlelit vigils of Noche de Muertos.
Friday, Oct 30
We drive to Cuilápam de Guerrero, where we will meet a master of traditional Día de Muertos earth art and be welcomed into a local community’s homes to take part in their own traditions of altar-making.
Saturday, Oct 31
A final breakfast together, followed by goodbyes, a few tears, and many hugs before we head home.
Where You'll Stay
Hotel Azul
Hotel Azul is a boutique hotel in the heart of Oaxaca de Juárez where art and luxury meet. Housed in a contemporary building that still carries Oaxacan warmth, every corner is considered: rooms designed in collaboration with Oaxacan master artists, courtyards built for gathering, and a restaurant, café, and bar all under one roof.
It sits right in Centro, steps from the markets, ofrenda-building, and candlelit processions that fill your days here—close enough to walk to everything, yet quiet enough to actually rest.
On-site:
Cocina Azul restaurant — Oaxacan cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Campante Bar — a curated selection of Mexican and Oaxacan spirits
Pabilo Café
Indoor courtyards and patios
The Rooms
Room amenities: Free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, private bathroom, shower, hair dryer, safe, Smart TV, Bluetooth speaker, mini bar.
Single Occupancy Room
Double Occupancy Room
Words from Our Guests
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED
Flights to and from Oaxaca
Transportation to and from the airport (we’ll be happy to arrange this for you).
Travel insurance (strongly recommended)
Alcoholic beverages, specialty coffees, or minibar purchases.
Personal shopping or souvenirs
Personal service tips and gratuities outside of included meals.
Guides inside museums
Additional nights