The Downtown Parades Are Done. Día de los Muertos Itself Is Still Ahead.

At the corner of Guadalupe and South Colorado streets, the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center sets up a community altar every year. It fills up with whatever people bring: flowers, candles, printed photos of the people they want to remember this year. That corner is on the West Side, a few miles and a different pace from the River Walk barges that drew last weekend's crowds. On Sunday, November 1, it becomes one of the busiest spots in the city.

San Antonio held most of its large Día de los Muertos events before the holiday. The Day of the Dead River Parade left Lexington Avenue on Friday, October 23. La Villita's weekend with its 38.5-foot Catrina and Catrín in Maverick Plaza ran October 23 to 25. Hemisfair's Muertos Fest took the same three days. Historic Market Square held its altars and Las Monas Cultural Dance Procession on October 24 and 25.

That leaves Sunday and Monday, the holiday's actual dates. They fall mostly to neighborhood cultural groups, and nearly every one of them asks you to take part in some way.

The Four Days That Are Left

Here is the rest of the season as of Thursday, October 29, in order. Apart from the ticketed River Walk cruise, every event below is free, according to Texas Public Radio's 2026 guide.

The River Walk's Tradition Trail stays up through November 2. Its installations sit near the Briscoe, Omni La Mansión, the Streetcar Station and Stargazer Bridge. The guided Río de la Vida cruises run Tuesdays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. through November 1, so Sunday is the final sailing. The cruise lasts 45 to 50 minutes and includes a beverage. It also starts just after Pearl's procession and in the middle of Esperanza's evening, which matters if you're trying to fit everything into Sunday.

Sunday Means Picking a Procession

Two community processions happen on Sunday night, and they're very different.

Esperanza's celebration at Rinconcito de Esperanza lasts six hours. It brings together more than 20 community altars, cempasúchiles planted by la comunidad, a community tapete, live music, and poetry and calavera readings. The procession travels from the Rinconcito to the Alazán-Apache Courts, joined by the danzantes Kalpulli Ayolopaktzin. Organizers ask people to dress as calacas and bring instruments and noisemakers. If you want someone's photo on the altar, bring a printed copy. The deadline for digital photos is Friday, October 30, the day after this post goes up.

Pearl's evening in Pearl Park includes ofrendas curated by local artists, a community altar, live performances, local vendors and a Catrin & Catrina contest. A procession around 7:15 p.m. crosses the campus. Sunday's event is part of a weeklong series at Pearl that runs October 27 through November 3.

Pearl added something new for 2026. Five local artists made four-foot calaveras that each tell a personal story, and they're on display from October 23 through November 5. You can see them any day this week if Sunday night is already spoken for.

Esperanza starts an hour before Pearl and ends an hour after it, so if you want both, you can do it. Start at Pearl before the 7:15 procession, then head west to South Colorado for the rest of the night. Esperanza goes until 10 p.m.

Monday Is Three Events in One Neighborhood Evening

November 2 is the busier day, and its schedule is unusually easy to stack. All three events start between 5 and 6 p.m., and none of them is a one-time show you'll miss by arriving late.

1. Plaza Guadalupe, 5 p.m. The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center marks 30 years of "La Vida de Los Muertos" with what it calls a new and enhanced production, sponsored by AARP San Antonio. Sugar skull decorating and paper flower workshops start at 5. A procession and Mariachi Academy performance follow at 6, and the Guadalupe Dance Company and Dance Academy perform at 6:30. The center asks people to bring lawn chairs.
2. Elmendorf Lake Park, 6 p.m. URBAN-15 and Westside Stories Magazine host Carnaval de Los Muertos, with a lantern release at 6:30 and the procession at 7:30. URBAN-15's dance and drum ensemble performs in handmade, lit-up costumes and carries banners with photos of the departed. The group says this annual tradition started 40 years ago.
3. Centro Cultural Aztlan, 6 to 9 p.m. The 49th annual "Altares y Ofrendas" opens in Galería Expresión I with altars made by local artists and community members. It comes with the Avenida de los Muertos Arts and Crafts Mercadito, which has more than 25 artists and artisans, live music and pan de muerto.

The times overlap, so you'll have to choose. Guadalupe's workshops and 6 p.m. procession fit before URBAN-15's 7:30 procession at Elmendorf Lake, and Centro Aztlan's opening runs until 9. The one clash is Guadalupe's 6:30 dance performance, which lands at the same time as URBAN-15's lantern release.

"Expect a more intimate evening, with a smaller crowd than the larger city events."

That's how TPR's guide describes Carnaval de Los Muertos at Elmendorf Lake.

None of the organizers have posted parking, transit or rain plans for Monday. Check their pages the afternoon of the event.

The Altars That Stay Up After November 2

Two West Side exhibits and Pearl's calaveras stay up after November 2, so you have time if the holiday itself is too busy.

• Altares y Ofrendas at Centro Cultural Aztlan stays on view through November 12, 2026. Regular gallery hours after the opening aren't posted on the exhibit page, so call ahead before a weekday visit.
• MujerArtes Cooperativa de Esperanza holds its annual Día de Muertos exhibit and sale at the studio at 816 S. Colorado St. from October 26 through November 6. The studio is also open during the November 1 celebration. Esperanza's pages list the daytime hours two different ways, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on one and Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on another, so check the MujerArtes page before you go.
• Pearl's calaveras stay up through November 5.

If you buy a handmade piece from MujerArtes after the holiday, that money still goes to the same cooperative whose members helped build the Sunday celebration.

Pan de Muerto Before the Weekend

Several of these events have food vendors, and Centro Aztlan's mercadito sells pan de muerto. If you'd rather bring bread for a home ofrenda or a family dinner, Visit San Antonio's October 2026 panadería guide lists several options.

• Panifico Bake Shop sells pan de muerto during the holiday and has made figurines to order in past years.
• La Panadería carries pan de muerto year-round at its Houston Street and Broadway Street locations. The Broadway location is at 8305 Broadway St.
• El Folklor Bakery sells traditional pan de muerto at five San Antonio locations.
• Mexico Ceaty is selling pan de muerto for its first Día de los Muertos season. The guide says it's available during October, which leaves only Friday and Saturday this week.

Last year, the San Antonio Express-News reported that La Panadería sold a black-ash Totomoxtle pan de muerto with sweet potato filling as a limited, in-store-only item through November 2. That was the 2025 run, so ask at the counter whether it's back before you plan around it.

Plan to stop for bread on Friday or Saturday. That way you aren't waiting in a bakery line Sunday afternoon when Esperanza's altars open at 4.

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