San Jose's Halloween Night Belongs to the Altars This Year
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
"Community members and family from afar can immerse themselves in a massive installation celebrating our connections to our ancestors."
That line comes from the Mexican Heritage Plaza's 2026 invitation to altar artists. It describes an altar walk on Alum Rock Avenue on Saturday, October 31. This year that Saturday is also Halloween. San Jose's two largest Día de los Muertos gatherings both hold their evening programs that night: Avenida de Altares on the East Side and Micailhuitl at History Park in Kelley Park. Trick-or-treat hours and altar hours land on the same evening.
On Sunday, November 1, the holiday moves west and toward downtown. The events get smaller and run in daylight, and most of them wrap up by late afternoon. If you're planning the weekend, the useful question is which night you want, more than which event.
The first gates open at 2 p.m. at History Park, 635 Phelan Ave. That's where the Aztec dance group Calpulli Tonahlehqueh hosts its 22nd annual Micailhuitl. Admission is free, and Saturday runs until 10 p.m. The afternoon hours matter for families. According to the Mercury News Día de los Muertos guide, the kids' activities run before dark: sugar skull decorating, flower-crown making, bounce houses, and on Saturday only, a trunk-or-treat.
Saturday hours at both sites:
The procession and the Avenida start are half an hour apart, on opposite sides of downtown. One evening can't hold the full program at both, so the choice is mostly about which kind of night you want.
Calpulli Tonahlehqueh's event page lists more than dance. There are community altares, live music, ballet folklórico, DJs, face painting, and live painting. There's an art exhibit in the park's Fire House, tours of the historic buildings, and lowriders. The organizer also lists a market of more than 40 Native artists and entrepreneurs and a food court with more than 10 vendors.
Parking costs money here. The organizer's FAQ lists the Kelley Park lot at the end of Phelan Avenue at $6. Overflow parking at the SJSU South Campus Garage may also run $6, and there's a small lot at the entrance. The organizer also suggests VTA Route 73. Get off at Senter Road and Phelan Avenue and walk about five minutes. On Halloween night, when the lot may fill, the bus is the simpler option.
Micailhuitl is also the one large celebration that runs both days. Sunday hours go to 6 p.m., with Danza Azteca from 2 to 4 p.m. The Sunday opening time differs by source. The organizer lists 10 a.m., and the Mercury News lists 10:30 a.m. Plan on the later time if you want to arrive as gates open.
Avenida de Altares only happens at night. Its main feature is a curated altar walk that starts at Alum Rock Avenue and King Road and ends just before the Highway 101 entrance. The invitation says 40 altars will be on public display. Some are indoors at La Plaza and some are outdoors on Alum Rock Avenue. Most were built by Eastside families, artists, and community organizations who applied over the summer.
The rest of the program is built around the walk. The invitation lists:
The Mexican Heritage Plaza event page also describes a community altar gallery, art activities for all ages, and an artisan vendor market. It still says the entertainment lineup will be announced. The organizer's Eventbrite listing already names four acts: Combo Tezeta, Bloco do Sol, Los Lupeños de San José, and Pro Wrestling Revolution. Pro Wrestling Revolution explains the luchadores on the invitation.
Admission is free with an RSVP, and the Eventbrite listing says parking is free too. With free parking, a costume contest, a headlining band, and a program that runs until 10:30, Avenida is the more adult evening of the two. It's also the only one where the altars line a public street instead of sitting inside a park.
By Sunday the celebrations look different. They're scattered, mostly free, and run by institutions: a shopping district, a museum, a university, and a branch library. Most close before dark.
Santana Row, 377 Santana Row. The free Día de Los Muertos Celebration runs on a staggered schedule. According to Santana Row's event page, visitors can add to the community ofrendas from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. A cultural pop-up market runs noon to 5 p.m., and Catrina photo ops and face painting run noon to 3 p.m. Mariachi and dance performances run 1 to 3 p.m. After that, mariachi and face painting move to El Jardín from 3 to 4:30 p.m., and mariachi plays at Zazil from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The Mercury News adds that the folklórico performers are M.A.N.O.S Folklorico. There's also a Marigold Mercado of local artisans and Latino-owned businesses and a cempasúchil flower bar.
Children's Discovery Museum, 180 Woz Way. This is the only ticketed event of the weekend. KQED's 2026 guide lists tickets at $22 for adults and children and $20 for seniors. The museum lists sand painting, calavera activities, monarch butterfly mask making, Aztec dancing, giant skeleton puppets, and calacas processions led by Teatro Familia Aztlán. The Mercury News adds that the procession stops at Lupe, the museum's 14,000-year-old mammoth. The event starts at 10 a.m., but the end time differs by source. The museum's event page says 3:30 p.m., and KQED says 2 p.m. If you have small children, go in the morning and the difference won't matter. The museum doesn't manage parking. Nearby public parking starts at $7, and the museum suggests VTA light rail or bus.
SJSU Student Union Theater, One Washington Square. SJSU's CommUniverCity hosts a free celebration open to everyone, with free food. Performers include Arpa Jalisciense by Salvador Vázquez, Grupo Folklórico Luna y Sol SJSU, and Mariachi San José. The university's event page shows the time in Eastern. In local time it runs about 3 to 5 p.m. It's the latest-running Sunday option in downtown proper.
Bascom Library, 1000 S. Bascom Ave. This is the smallest one. The branch sets up a Dia de Muertos Community Ofrenda near the front desk. Visitors can bring a copy of a loved one's photo or write a name on a tag the library provides. The San José Public Library listing gives branch hours of noon to 5 p.m.
Bascom's ofrenda stays up on Monday, November 2, the second of the holiday's two days. The longest-running display is downtown. "Art of Remembrance," at SJSU's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 150 E. San Fernando St., runs through Thursday, November 5. It's in the AAACNA Studies Center on the fifth floor. The exhibit is free, according to the Mercury News.
The exhibit page lists contributors from across the city. They include artists Alca Usan, Araceli Holmes, Elena Robles, Guadalupe Friaz, and Maria Luisa Colmenarez, along with El Centro and M.E.Ch.A. de SJSU. The Roberto Cruz Leadership Academy Visual Arts Department contributed an ofrenda. So did Jeff Warwick and the Bay Area Jewish Coalition, with Ilan Block. The page doesn't list hours just for the exhibit, so check the library's hours before you go.
So Saturday night is when the big gatherings happen, and the quiet viewing runs through the following Thursday. If Halloween already fills your Saturday evening, the fifth floor of King Library still has ofrendas to see on a weekday lunch break through November 5.
I've spent years in hospitality and event planning, and I still love a weekend with this much going on around town. If you're mapping out Halloween weekend in San Jose and want to compare notes on which side of town suits your family's evening, Amy Martinez is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.
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