Who Still Celebrates Día de los Muertos on Nov. 1 and 2 in San Antonio

Pearl has five four-foot calaveras on its schedule this fall, each painted live by a local artist and each telling a personal story. They are listed for display from Oct. 23, the opening day of Muertos Fest at Hemisfair, through Nov. 5, which is 11 days after the last scheduled day at Hemisfair.

San Antonio's largest Día de los Muertos events were scheduled for last weekend downtown. That was only the first half of the holiday's calendar. The second half falls on the holiday itself, Sunday, Nov. 1 and Monday, Nov. 2. Most of it is free and runs on the Westside, hosted by organizations that have kept these dates for 30, 40 and nearly 50 years.

The Downtown Weekend Came First

Downtown's biggest events were all scheduled within the three days from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25. Muertos Fest at Hemisfair was set for Friday through Sunday, free. Ahead of the festival, News 4 San Antonio reported that this year's plans included a record 90-plus community altars, a 40-foot papel-picado installation at a redesigned South Alamo and Market Street entrance, two processions and five stages.

The last row is the one that changed. The City of San Antonio World Heritage Office scheduled "Celebrando las Misiones" at Mission Marquee Plaza for Saturday, Oct. 24 this year. In 2025, the City's own announcement put the same event on Saturday, Nov. 1. Moving it a week earlier placed the City's mission-side celebration on the same weekend as Hemisfair, La Villita and the river parade.

So the city's calendar has a gap. The large ticketed and festival-scale events cluster the weekend before, and the dates the holiday is named for fall on a Sunday and a Monday this year.

Pearl Fills the Week Between

Pearl has grown its celebration to fill that gap. Its 2025 event page advertised one public gathering on Nov. 2. This year's runs from Tuesday, Oct. 27 through Tuesday, Nov. 3, free and open to the public, with ofrendas by local artists, a community altar, live music, children's activities, local vendors and a Catrin and Catrina contest.

The night to plan around is Sunday, Nov. 1. Texas Public Radio's 2026 guide says the evening ends with a communal procession across Pearl's campus at around 7:15 p.m. The calaveras by the five commissioned artists stay up two days after the celebration closes.

Also at Pearl that Sunday, Campanas de América will perform "Recuérdame" at Stable Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. It is a mariachi program built around memory and storytelling. It is one of the few ticketed events left, with tickets starting at $31.

Sunday, Nov. 1, on South Colorado Street

About the same hour Pearl is lining up its procession, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is in the middle of its own. Día de Muertos 2026 at Rinconcito de Esperanza, 816 S. Colorado, runs from 4 to 10 p.m. on Nov. 1. It is free and family-friendly, with more than 20 community altars, cempasúchiles planted by the community, and a community tapete.

Rinconcito asks people to take part, not just watch. According to TPR, visitors are invited to bring flowers, candles and reprinted photos of the people they want to remember for the community altar at the corner of Guadalupe and S. Colorado. The procession goes from the Rinconcito to the Alazán-Apache Courts with the danzantes of Kalpulli Ayolopaktzin, and participants are encouraged to dress as calacas and bring instruments and noisemakers. The evening also includes poetry and calavera readings.

If you can't make Sunday night, MujerArtes Cooperativa de Esperanza's annual Día de Muertos exhibit and sale was scheduled to start Oct. 26.

For a daytime stop, the San Antonio Botanical Garden at 555 Funston Pl. has its fall exhibition, "Jardín de las Catrinas," up through Nov. 2. It has eight larger-than-life Catrinas by San Antonio artist Regina Moya, each inspired by nature, Mexican traditions and refranes, set among more than 10,000 marigolds. TPR lists the themed activities, including nature-based art, live music and drop-in tours, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and they are included with Garden admission or membership.

Monday, Nov. 2, Belongs to the Westside's Longest-Running Traditions

This is the clearest evidence for the split calendar. Three Westside organizations hold their main events on Monday, Nov. 2, a workday evening, as they have for decades. The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center is marking 30 years of "La Vida de los Muertos." Centro Cultural Aztlan is opening its 49th annual Día de los Muertos exhibition. URBAN-15's illuminated procession continues a tradition TPR says began 40 years ago.

All three are free, and their start times are staggered across the evening.

1. 5:00 p.m. The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center opens free sugar skull decorating and paper flower workshops at Plaza Guadalupe, 1327 Guadalupe St. The workshops run until 6:30.
2. 6:00 p.m. The Guadalupe Mariachi Academy leads a procession and performance at the plaza. Centro Cultural Aztlan opens its "Altares y Ofrendas" reception at 1800 Fredericksburg Rd. #103. URBAN-15's Carnaval de los Muertos begins at Elmendorf Lake Park, 3700 W. Commerce St.
3. 6:30 p.m. The Guadalupe Dance Company and Dance Academy perform at Plaza Guadalupe. The lantern release begins at Elmendorf Lake Park.
4. 7:30 p.m. URBAN-15's procession starts. Dancers and drummers in handmade illuminated costumes carry banners with photos of the dearly departed.
5. 8:30 p.m. Carnaval de los Muertos ends.
6. 9:00 p.m. The Centro Cultural Aztlan reception closes.

Each one offers something different. Guadalupe's event, sponsored by AARP San Antonio, is a theater and dance performance on an outdoor plaza. The Center tells audiences to bring lawn chairs, and TPR describes this year's 30th-anniversary production as new and enhanced.

Centro Cultural Aztlan's event is held in a gallery. Its Altares y Ofrendas exhibit in Galeria Expresión I shows altars made by local artists and community members for their loved ones, with photographs, marigolds, incense, candles and food offerings. Out on the breezeway, the annual Avenida de los Muertos mercadito brings together more than 25 artists and artisans, with live music and pan de muerto.

URBAN-15's Carnaval de los Muertos, presented with Westside Stories Magazine, is the night procession. TPR's guide says to expect a smaller crowd and a more intimate evening than the larger city events, with vendors and music.

After Monday, Two Exhibits Stay Up

Nov. 2 isn't the last chance to see the season's art. Pearl's celebration runs one more day, through Tuesday, Nov. 3, and the five calaveras stay on display through Thursday, Nov. 5.

Centro Cultural Aztlan's altars stay up longest. "Altares y Ofrendas" runs through Nov. 12, ten days after the opening reception, and the center also offers a virtual tour along with the in-gallery visit. If Monday evening doesn't work for you, the gallery is the one place on this calendar where the altars from Nov. 2 can still be seen the following week.

Here is the second half of the calendar on one page.

• Through Nov. 2: "Jardín de las Catrinas," San Antonio Botanical Garden
• Oct. 27 to Nov. 3: Día de los Muertos at Pearl, with the Nov. 1 procession at about 7:15 p.m.
• Nov. 1, 4 to 10 p.m.: Rinconcito de Esperanza, 816 S. Colorado
• Nov. 1, 6 to 8 p.m.: "Recuérdame" at Stable Hall
• Nov. 2, from 5 p.m.: "La Vida de los Muertos," Plaza Guadalupe
• Nov. 2, 6 to 9 p.m.: "Altares y Ofrendas" opening, Centro Cultural Aztlan, on view through Nov. 12
• Nov. 2, 6 to 8:30 p.m.: Carnaval de los Muertos, Elmendorf Lake Park

If this is your family's first fall in San Antonio, whether you arrived on PCS orders or bought your first home here this year, it helps to know that some of the city's oldest traditions hold their biggest nights on the holiday itself. I grew up here, and I'm happy to share what I know about the places that make this city feel like home in every season. Leslie Reyes Idais is always glad to hear from neighbors. Let's Connect.