Day of the Dead 2026: Día de los Muertos Dates, Traditions and Events

Día de los Muertos 2026 runs from Sunday, Nov. 1 to Monday, Nov. 2, so Nov. 2 is the second day. The Mexican tradition remembers family members and friends who have died with ofrendas (home altars), marigolds, candles, food and cemetery visits. Both days fall right after Halloween on Saturday, Oct. 31, and the season started earlier: popular calendars reported by Mexican newsrooms set aside Tuesday, Oct. 27 for pets.

Day of the Dead 2026 dates at a glance

Date	Day	Observance
Oct. 27	Tuesday	Pets that have died (a recent popular custom)
Oct. 31	Saturday	Halloween; ofrendas finished; Mexico City parade
Nov. 1	Sunday	Día de los Angelitos (children); All Saints’ Day
Nov. 2	Monday	Día de los Muertos (adults); All Souls’ Day

The main dates are fixed every year. Only the weekday moves: in 2026 the two central days land on a Sunday and a Monday, so the cemetery visits of Nov. 1 fell on a weekend and Nov. 2 is a regular workday in the United States.

The week before: Oct. 27 to Nov. 2, day by day

Mexico’s Ministry of Culture lists the festivity from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, with the faithful departed remembered on Nov. 1 and 2. Households often follow a longer popular calendar that gives each day to a different group of the dead. Two Mexican newsrooms, La Crónica de Hoy and Récord, published the same sequence for 2026, and Récord notes that it comes from popular calendars that vary by region and family.

Date	Day	Who is remembered, by popular calendar
Oct. 27	Tuesday	Pets
Oct. 28	Wednesday	People who died in accidents, violence or other tragic circumstances
Oct. 29	Thursday	Forgotten souls with no one to remember them
Oct. 30	Friday	Lonely and forgotten souls (continued)
Oct. 31	Saturday	Children who died before birth or before baptism
Nov. 1	Sunday	Children and young people, the angelitos
Nov. 2	Monday	Adults; the Day of the Faithful Departed

Treat the table as one common pattern. A family in Oaxaca, a town in Michoacán and a household in Chicago may set up and take down their altars on different days, and that is part of the tradition.

What Día de los Muertos means

Día de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition, rooted in Indigenous practice and blended with the Catholic feasts of All Saints and All Souls. Families welcome back the spirits of relatives who have died. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) first proclaimed the Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead a masterpiece of intangible heritage in 2003 and inscribed it on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. UNESCO describes families laying flower petals, candles and offerings along the path from the cemetery to the home to guide the souls back.

In towns across Mexico, families spend the night of Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at the cemetery, cleaning and decorating graves, sharing food and telling stories about the people they remember. UNESCO’s own short film shows these customs in Indigenous communities:

How to build an ofrenda

The ofrenda, a home altar, is the center of the celebration. There is no single required design; families pick the things that meant something to the person they remember. Common elements:

Element	What it is	Why it is there
Photos	Pictures of the people being remembered	Show whom the altar is for
Cempasúchil	Orange Mexican marigolds, loose petals and garlands	Color and scent said to guide the spirits home
Candles	Veladoras, often one per person	Light the way
Food and drink	The person’s favorite dishes	A welcome after the journey
Pan de muerto	Sweet bread topped with dough “bones”	The bread of the season
Calaveras	Sugar skulls, often with a name on the forehead	Remembrance with humor
Papel picado	Cut-paper banners	Color and movement
Water and salt	A glass of water, a small dish of salt	For thirst and the journey
Personal objects	A book, a hat, a tool, an instrument	The person’s own story

Cempasúchil growing in Atlixco, Puebla, on Oct. 24, 2021 (file photo). The flowers are cut in late October for altars and graves. Photo: B.jars, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Altars usually go up in the last week of October. Pan de muerto is the bread of the season; on Nov. 1, 2018, Mexico City’s government handed it out at the Panteones Metro station, where the photo below was taken.

Pan de muerto at a Mexico City government handout, Nov. 1, 2018 (file photo). Photo: Mexico City government, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Day of the Dead for pets: why Oct. 27

Mexican newsrooms including Infobae and Expansión report Oct. 27 as the day families remember dogs, cats and other animals that have died. Expansión, citing tradition, says the pet ofrenda should be ready by the night of Oct. 27. Infobae calls it a popular belief that “se popularizó apenas en años recientes,” spreading only in recent years, and says the modern custom has a recent rather than ancient origin. It is not an official holiday, and not every family keeps it.

A small pet ofrenda might hold:

• A photo of the pet.
• A favorite toy, collar or blanket.
• Water and a small portion of a favorite treat, placed where living pets cannot reach it.
• Marigolds or another flower, and a candle you can watch.

In 2026 Oct. 27 fell on a Tuesday; by Expansión’s timing, a pet altar was ready by that night. Our printable below marks the date for next year’s planning too.

Day of the Dead in Mexico City in 2026

Mexico City pairs neighborhood and family customs with a city program of public events. The dates below come from the city government’s tourism portal; the Mexico City Day of the Dead parade guide has the parade route and U.S. times.

Event	2026 dates	Where
Festival Flores de Cempasúchil	Oct. 18 to Nov. 1	Paseo de la Reforma
“El Camino” light installation	Oct. 23 to Nov. 8	Paseo de la Reforma
Ofrenda Monumental	Oct. 29 to Nov. 2	Zócalo
Community ofrendas	Oct. 29 to Nov. 2	12 venues around the city
Zócalo illumination	Oct. 29 to Nov. 4	Historic center
“La Puerta entre dos mundos” festival	Oct. 29 to Nov. 4	Chapultepec, Second Section, with a nighttime drone show
Gran Desfile de Día de Muertos	Sat., Oct. 31, 2 p.m. (4 p.m. Eastern Time (ET))	Paseo de la Reforma to the Zócalo
San Andrés Mixquic	Oct. 31 to Nov. 2	Tláhuac; ends with La Alumbrada on Nov. 2

Several events on the city’s list have already passed: the 18th Desfile de Alebrijes Monumentales on Oct. 17, a night bike ride on Oct. 24, the Mega Procesión de las Catrinas on Oct. 25, the Gran Desfile on Oct. 31 and the Festival Flores de Cempasúchil, which ended Nov. 1. The city’s page notes that the Ofrenda Monumental in the Zócalo includes a 32-meter cartonería (papier-mâché) figure. Check the official city guide for closures and changes before you go.

Outside the capital, customs change from state to state and town to town. When visiting a cemetery or a family altar anywhere in Mexico, ask before taking photos of people, graves or private ofrendas.

Day of the Dead in the United States in 2026

Día de los Muertos is not a U.S. federal holiday. The Office of Personnel Management’s list does not include it, so on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, federal offices, banks and the Postal Service keep normal hours. Schools and employers set their own schedules.

It is widely celebrated in U.S. cities, with public altars, parades, art shows and family workshops.

A community ofrenda at Mission San José, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, Oct. 29, 2021 (file photo). Photo: National Park Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

San Antonio events and hours

Event	2026 dates and hours	Where	Cost
Calaveras de Azúcar Festival	Sat., Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 1, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.	Historic Market Square	Free
Self-guided altar tour	Daily through Fri., Nov. 6, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.	Historic Market Square	Free

Source: City of San Antonio release of Oct. 20, 2026. The River Parade on Oct. 23 and the La Villita festival of Oct. 23 to 25 have taken place, and the festival days of Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 have passed. The altar tour continues through Fri., Nov. 6.

Los Angeles events through Nov. 2

Event	2026 dates	Where
Downtown Día de los Muertos altars	Through Mon., Nov. 2, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily	Gloria Molina Grand Park
Grand Park closing night	Sun., Nov. 1, 3 to 7 p.m.	Gloria Molina Grand Park
Día de los Muertos Festival	Through Mon., Nov. 2	Olvera Street
Plaza de la Familia (Coco theme)	Through Mon., Nov. 2	Disney California Adventure Park

The Grand Park closing night on Sun., Nov. 1 has passed; the other three listings run through Mon., Nov. 2. The Music Center, which runs Grand Park, says its schedule and artists may change; Discover Los Angeles lists the Olvera Street festival. Hours and tickets differ by venue, so check each organizer’s page before you go.

The 2026 Día de Muertos Barbie

Searches for a “Day of the Dead Barbie” are about Mattel’s yearly collector doll, not a film. Mattel Creations lists the Barbie Signature Día De Muertos 2026 Barbie Doll in a deep-red satin gown with a mermaid-style skirt, embroidery inspired by traditional Mexican pottery, a sugar-skull-inspired mask and sculpted rose accents. A matching 2026 Ken doll is also listed. On Oct. 30, both showed a price of $80 and pre-orders marked sold out on Mattel’s store.

The dolls borrow the season’s colors and calavera look; they are collectibles, not part of an ofrenda.

Coco and other Day of the Dead movies

Pixar’s Coco is the best-known family film set during Día de los Muertos. A boy named Miguel crosses into the Land of the Dead and learns about his family’s past. It is fiction inspired by Mexican traditions and a good way to start a conversation with children, but it does not show how every region keeps the days.

At the Disneyland Resort, Plaza de la Familia at Disney California Adventure uses Coco characters and music; its fact sheet lists the 2026 run from Aug. 21 through Nov. 2.

Is Day of the Dead the same as Halloween?

No. Halloween on Oct. 31 has Celtic and Christian roots and centers on costumes and trick-or-treating; our Halloween 2026 guide has sunset times by city. Día de los Muertos is about memory and family: welcoming back relatives who have died. The two sit side by side on the calendar, and public events sometimes mix them, but their meanings differ.

Printable Day of the Dead 2026 calendar

The free one-page sheet below marks every date in this story on an October and November 2026 grid, with a lined area for the names you want on your ofrenda. It prints on US Letter, and an ink-saver version is included. For a plain month, use our November 2026 printable calendar or October 2026 printable calendar.

From Halloween to Election Day

Date	What happens
Saturday, Oct. 31	Halloween; Mexico City’s Gran Desfile at 2 p.m. local time
Sunday, Nov. 1	Día de los Angelitos; All Saints’ Day; U.S. clocks fell back one hour at 2 a.m. (when daylight saving time ends)
Monday, Nov. 2	Día de los Muertos; All Souls’ Day
Tuesday, Nov. 3	Election Day

The All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day guide covers the church side of Nov. 1 and 2. Día de los Muertos opens a busy month: Diwali falls on Sunday, Nov. 8 and Veterans Day on Wednesday, Nov. 11, and every date is in our November 2026 calendar with holidays. The when is Halloween page gives that date for future years.