Día de los Muertos in Los Angeles 2026: The Nights Worth Crossing Town For

Darlings, the city changes costume this week. Halloween gets the headlines, but the more elegant ritual begins today: Día de los Muertos, the Mexican tradition of honoring the dead with ofrendas, marigolds, sugar skulls and pan de muerto. The Los Angeles Times’ De Los desk counts 50 celebrations across Southern California this season. We read the calendar so you do not have to, and kept the ones worth crossing town for.

Starting today: Olvera Street, nine nights running

The grande dame of the season opens Sunday. The Olvera Street Merchants Assn. Foundation hosts its nine-day Día de los Muertos Festival from Oct. 25 through Nov. 2, a tradition the Times says has run for nearly 40 years. Each evening at 6 p.m., Teatro del Barrio presents the Danza de la Muerte; a procession follows at 7 p.m. with a traditional Maya blessing, ending at the Kiosko with free sweet bread and drinks. Daytime entertainment and face painting start at 11 a.m. on Oct. 25 and 31 and on Nov. 1 and 2, and the community altars stay up all week. It is free, and it is the one to bring an out-of-town guest to.

Also on Sunday: LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, across the street, holds a free Family Day from noon with music, dance and hands-on art, garden and culinary workshops. In Long Beach, the Museum of Latin American Art runs its Day of the Dead Family Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; it is free, but reservations are required. And San Pedro’s 15th annual festival goes from 3 to 9:30 p.m. with altars, Aztec and folklórico performances, a catrina contest and a 21-and-over beer garden.

Downtown all week: Grand Park’s altars

Gloria Molina Grand Park opened its Downtown Día de los Muertos on Oct. 24, with a two-week public altar exhibit created by Consuelo G. Flores that runs through Nov. 2. The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs lists it as free. The Times puts the closing Noche de los Muertos on Nov. 1, from 3 to 7 p.m.; the park’s own page carries a different date, so check it the morning you go. A lunchtime walk through the altars, darling, is the most moving thing you can do on a weekday downtown.

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Friday and Saturday: the block party and the pier

Friday, Oct. 30: the 1st Street Collective Boyle Heights throws an all-day Día de Muertos block party at Mariachi Plaza, between Boyle and Soto streets, with altars around the kiosk where neighbors can add photographs of their loved ones, plus music, dancing, artisan vendors and free face painting.

Saturday, Oct. 31 into Sunday, Nov. 1: the Santa Monica Pier dresses its Merry-Go-Round building in marigolds and papel picado, with a community ofrenda by local artist Sylvia Sanchez. Per the pier’s own schedule, the ofrendas are open Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday’s free program runs from noon to 5:30 p.m. with a classic car cruise, an Aztec blessing, ballet folklórico, mariachi and live music. A costume party later that night is optional; the sunset is not.

Sunday, Nov. 1: the big day

• Plaza de la Raza, Lincoln Heights: altars by local artists, workshops, music and dance, 5 to 9:30 p.m.
• Mid City Mercado: its fourth Día de los Muertos block party, noon to 8 p.m., with free workshops, carnival rides and a community altar.
• Canoga Park: the 26th Main Street family festival on Sherman Way, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a catrina contest and a classic car show.
• Fowler Museum at UCLA: mini-ofrenda and sugar-skull piñata workshops with artist Maria Elena Cruz and music by Mariachi Alta California, 1 to 4:30 p.m.
• Forest Lawn Glendale, Covina Hills and Cypress: altars, folkloric dancing, mariachi and a Bob Baker Marionette Theater puppet show, noon to 3 p.m.
• Long Beach: the city’s celebration returns after last year’s cancellation, 1 to 7 p.m., the Times reports.
• Self Help Graphics: Noche de Ofrenda at Tonalli Studios, 6 to 9 p.m., per the nonprofit’s site.

Saturday, Nov. 7: the encore

Self Help Graphics, which the Times credits with helping popularize the holiday in Southern California, holds its 53rd annual celebration on Nov. 7 as a block party outside its future Boyle Heights headquarters, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The same afternoon, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures hosts an Astrology Catrinas workshop led by author and illustrator Mariana Galvez, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., with museum admission and an advance reservation.

The etiquette, briefly

An ofrenda is a memorial, not a backdrop. Ask before photographing a family’s altar, never touch the offerings, and if you wear catrina makeup, wear it as homage. Buy your pan de muerto from the vendors, tip the musicians, and arrive early: free parking downtown on Nov. 1 is a myth best left to the spirits.

Sources

1. Los Angeles Times (De Los): 50 ways to celebrate Día de los Muertos in Southern California
2. Olvera Street: Day of the Dead on Olvera Street
3. City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs: Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos
4. Gloria Molina Grand Park: Downtown Día de los Muertos
5. Santa Monica Pier: Día de los Muertos
6. LAmag: Celebrate Día de los Muertos with these 12 events
7. Self Help Graphics & Art: Noche de Ofrenda at Tonalli Studios
8. Self Help Graphics & Art: Día de los Muertos

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