Presenter Toby Amies hooks up with alternative arts guru Pancho Lopez, who exercises his democratic right to eat wherever he damn well pleases by staging elaborate dinners in public places – including a traffic island smack in the middle of a busy Mexico City thoroughfare.

Pancho’s friend Kimberley Sumano guides Toby through the historic canals of Xochimilco, where they also gather flowers for the forthcoming Day of the Dead celebrations. Kimberley introduces Toby to peroxide-topped La Lucha Libre hard man Shocker who kits him out in wrestling gear and initiates him into the mysteries of the world’s most theatrical fighting organisation.

Kimberly and Toby celebrate Dia de Muertes (Day of the Dead) with traditional Aztec rituals and dancing in Xochimilco. The following night Toby and Pancho experience the Day of the Dead in a more contemporary way in Mixquic, with a feast and candlelit vigil in honour of the dear departed.

Pancho takes Toby to the counterculture El Chopo market where he meets social activist Daniel Sanchez, who conducts an orchestra playing instruments recycled from the city’s trash.

Toby helps documentary filmmaker Andrea Ã