Where to Celebrate Día de los Muertos Events in the Bay Area

Día de los Muertos is almost here. And in the coming days, families across the Bay Area will transform a corner of their home into an ofrenda — colorful handmade altars honoring loved ones who have passed away. Photos and mementos are placed alongside candles, sugar skulls, cempasúchil (marigolds) and the departed’s favorite food and drinks.

Traditionally celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2, Día de los Muertos is when the living pause from their daily routine and remember the dead.

For centuries, families in Mexico and several other Latin American countries — where it’s also known as Día de los Difuntos — have also used this time of year to reunite with relatives and friends. Celebrating the dead can be done in both the privacy of one’s home and in community out in the streets, with music, dance and art.

Thanks to the Bay Area’s large Latino diaspora, there are multiple public Día de los Muertos events held across the region that are family-friendly and open to all — including those who are just starting to learn more about this tradition.

Keep in mind that some events are high-energy celebrations with spaces for dancing and socializing, while others are more solemn occasions that include traditional blessings and spoken word.

Another thing to note: This year, because Nov. 1 and 2 fall on Sunday and Monday respectively, you’ll also find many organizers have scheduled their Día de los Muertos events a few days before (or after) the traditionally observed dates, with events running from this week through Nov. 8.

Each month, the California Academy of Sciences hosts 21+ nighttime gatherings where adults can enjoy the museum with live music, drinks and performances. This month’s NightLife event is in collaboration with Carnaval San Francisco and will showcase different Día de los Muertos traditions from the Mexican state of Michoacán.

This occasion will also honor Claude, the albino alligator that lived at the Academy of Sciences since 2008 and became a local icon before dying last December at the age of 30. Sacramento-based artist Carolina Argote will unveil a sculpture of Claude in the incredibly colorful and intricate style of alebrijes.

And if you’re feeling like dancing, the Bay Area’s own Chulita Vinyl Club — a collective of Latina DJs who work to preserve the region’s old-school cumbia scene — will be laying tracks in the Academy’s East Garden.

Full-priced tickets are $26 and EBT cardholders pay $5.

Curated by Bridgètt Rex and Mission District-raised Rio Yañez, this exhibit celebrates the Mexican traditions of Día de los Muertos “while welcoming cultures around the globe to honor the dead together in solidarity.”

Dozens of artists have been invited to create their own altars dedicated to loved ones who have died. This year’s exhibit is dedicated to Oakland-based florist and educator Latosha “Tosha” Stimage, who passed away earlier this year. 

The opening reception on Oct. 23 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. will feature an artists’ market and a musical performance by Las Hijas de la Madre.

A general admission ticket is $15, but those 16 years old and under get in free.

ALAS stands for Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, or “Helping Latinos Dream,” and the nonprofit will host a Day of the Dead celebration at its office on 507 Purissima Street. 

This year’s theme is “Catrinas, Calabazas y Cumbia,” paying homage to Half Moon Bay’s nickname as the World Pumpkin Capital. There will also be Aztec dancers, face painting and sugar skull decorating.

City officials and local nonprofit Corazón Healdsburg will host a Día de los Muertos celebration in the city’s main plaza from noon to 6 p.m. 

Families are welcome to bring photos of loved ones to add to the communal ofrenda. There will be live music, a car show, dance performances and craft activities for kids throughout the day.

This event has free admission.

This year sees the Oakland Ballet celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Luna Mexicana production, which brings different Mexican folklórico traditions onstage with contemporary dance. 

Performances are family-friendly and are advertised as “ideal for ages 7 and up.”

Tickets for the Oct. 30 and Nov. 1 performances are already available on Ticketmaster and prices can range from $35 to $100.

Located on the corner of Alum Rock Avenue and King Road, the Mexican Heritage Plaza is one of the most important gathering spots for East San José’s Latino community. This year, the venue celebrates the 10th annual Avenida de Altares.

According to event organizers, folks are welcome to “explore a community altar gallery, participate in hands-on art activities for all ages, browse an artisanal vendor market, and experience colorful face painting.”

This event has free admission and starts at 5:30 p.m.

In terms of attendance — and sheer scale of production — this is by far the biggest celebration for Día de los Muertos in the Bay Area. 

On Sunday, Nov. 1, nine blocks along International Boulevard in the city’s Fruitvale neighborhood will fill up with giant ofrendas created by local artists, live music stages and dozens of booths from community groups and local artists.

Someone making their first-ever appearance at the celebration is the towering 34-foot sculpture of La Catrina, an elegant female skull figure that serves as a symbol for the dead coming into the world of the living. The piece was brought in by the nonprofit Unity Council, which leads organizing efforts for the Oakland event.

This is a high-energy event, so expect to hear live banda music for hours and lowriders bouncing through the streets. And for the first time, the Oakland Roots and Soul will be hosting street soccer games along 39th Avenue.

La Peña is one of the longest-running spaces dedicated to Latin American and Caribbean culture in the Bay Area, and this year’s Day of the Dead celebration will give families plenty of opportunities to be creative together.

Programming starts at 5:30 p.m. with a bilingual storytime, then moves outdoors for a Four Directions ceremony that will then lead to guests building an ofrenda together. Guests are accordingly encouraged to bring photos and mementos of loved ones. 

The night will end with a jam session open to the community and a son jarocho concert — music emblematic of the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Admission is free, and there will be food and drinks available for purchase.

San Francisco’s Tenderloin district is throwing a free family street fair from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. for Día de los Muertos, featuring a full lineup of live music from all over Latin America: rock with Soucano, salsa with Agua Pura, psychedelic Peruvian cumbia with Combo Tezeta and Mexican música regional with Banda La Tóxica.

There’ll also be lucha libre matches, a kids zone and loteria. Tickets are free, but you can RSVP a spot now.

The Children’s Discovery Museum in downtown San José will host a family-friendly Día de los Muertos event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

There’ll be storytelling for children, sand painting, performances by Aztec dancers, and the Chicano theater group Teatro Familia Aztlán will lead a short procession that stops at different installations in the museum, including its 14,000-year-old mammoth skeleton.

Tickets are $22 for both adults and children. Seniors pay $20 for entrance and infants get in for free.

Local officials will host a gathering at Concord’s Pacheco Square from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. that will feature live mariachi music and “free tacos for the community.” Residents are invited to bring photos of their loved ones for a community ofrenda.

Admission is free.

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This two-day celebration in Santa Rosa’s Old Courthouse Square brings together artists and performers from all over the North Bay, including the Tri County Pomo Dancers, traditional Oaxacan tiliches and giant dancing mojigangas. Organizers have scheduled a tianguis — or street market — featuring dozens of local businesses for Sunday and have invited schools from across the region to set up field trips to visit the celebration on Monday. There’ll be live music and food for sale on both days.

This event has free admission.

Day of the Dead Ritual Procession in San Francisco

Monday, Nov. 2

Organized by the Comité de Rescate Cultural (the Culture Rescue Committee), San Francisco’s 45th annual Día de los Muertos procession brings together hundreds of musicians, artists and culture keepers. And this year’s theme is “Nuestros muertos no se venden” — “Our dead are not for sale.”

The procession will first gather at Bryant and 22nd Street at 7 p.m., then move over to 24th Street in the direction of Mission Street.

Thousands of families gather on the sidewalk to watch the procession, with many— both kids and adults — in skull face paint. If you don’t know how to paint a skull, don’t worry — you can easily find a makeup artist walking around that can help you out, along with food vendors and musicians set up on each corner.

This event has free admission.

In previous years, the Mission District has hosted other public gatherings for Día de los Muertos: a festival of altars at Potrero Del Sol Park and a separate arts exhibition at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.

However, the website for the festival of altars only shows information for last year’s events, and organizers of previous festival of altars have not returned KQED’s requests for details. And last January, the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts shut down due to major financial pressures, taking away a historic venue for Day of the Dead celebrations in the neighborhood.

The city’s premier symphony orchestra will perform music from across Latin America with José Luis Gómez, music director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, as conductor. The culture of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala will be in the spotlight this year, with performances from salterio players David Hernández Pozos and Claudio Israel Vázquez, along with traditional dancers from Redwood City’s Casa Círculo Cultural.

And if you get to the Symphony before the performance starts, you’ll have the chance to walk around the lobby to see interactive altars and plenty of catrinas.

Seat prices depend on location and can range between $35 and $180.

This year, the biggest Día de los Muertos celebration in San Mateo County will take place a week after most events in the region. 

Dance and music performances will fill Redwood City’s Courthouse Square from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Families will also have the chance to learn how to make sugar skulls, get catrina face painting and join the ritual procession.

This year’s celebration will also feature a competition for the best ofrenda mounted on a car — “Recuerdos sobre ruedas or “memories on wheels.” According to organizers, entries should honor the memory of children who have passed away and “should reflect tenderness, innocence, and the love families hold for the little ones who left too soon.”

This event has free admission.