The crowd waits in anticipation. The team spreads out along their rope, shouting orders to each other. This is the moment they have spent the past months working towards.

The MC finishes the countdown, the crowd holds its breath and the team pulls back with all its strength, launching their gigantic kite into the sky.

The crowd relaxes and cheers, but the team’s battle has just begun: they must now keep their kite in the sky for the longest if they are to win the competition.

We are two in a crowd of thousands who have come to the town of Sumpango for the Barriletes Gigantes, a giant kite festival that occurs every year on All Saints Day (also known as the Day of the Dead).

All Saints Day is one of the biggest celebrations on the Guatemalan calendar. It is another example of how Catholicism has been merged with indigenous traditions, in this case, those of honouring the dead. On this day it is believed that the underworld releases the souls of those who live there and for 24 hours, the spirits of the dead can visit the places where they lived and the people whom they loved.

In the days prior, cemeteries around the country are abuzz with activity as families visit the gravesites of their loved ones to clean, restore and decorate them. In Antigua, we watched as relatives young and old carried ladders and paint pots, flowers and wreaths into the local cemetery and set to work. It was a respectful yet happy and social atmosphere.

In Sumpango, we watched families celebrate the day itself. The cemetery was packed with relatives who had gathered to build small altars to the deceased and to have a picnic. We had never seen a cemetery so alive and beautiful.

As for the kites, the Maya believe they facilitate the journey of spirits travelling between Earth and heaven. The kite festival has a thirty year history in Sumpango, but in other parts of the country the tradition dates back over 100 years. Today, these remarkable works of art often contain important social and political messages.

Learn more about this day of colour and excitement through the captions accompanying our photos below (the full gallery online here). See why we left with our spirits as high as those kites in the sky.

It is so great to be back in Guatemala!

Families prepare for All Saints Day in Antigua’s public cemetery.

First, the sites are cleaned and restored.

The giant kite festival in Sumpango, Guatemala

Each kite is constructed by a professional kite designer who is assisted by a team of up to 50 people from the community. Each kite takes months of work to complete.

The colourful images and messages reflect key issues faced by Guatemalan society today. This one says “Now being a mum is not a game”.

“No more child migration” – Guatemalans want a solution to this crisis too.

The larger kites are judged based on their size, innovative design and meaning. This year the grand prize was 45,000 quetzals (US$5,800). Smaller kites can enter the flying competition. The kite which stays up the longest and travels the farthest wins a prize.

It is a serious competition!

A team tries to keep their kite up in the air.

We have lift off!

Simple pleasures: everyone was thrilled to watch the kites fly…..

It was a riot of colour and life in the cemetary

The days’ activties often take place right on top of the graves.