Day of the Dead – Dia de los Muertos

a San Diego celebration of life

Celebrating its 16th year in San Diego, the 2026 annual Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead celebration returns for a month long celebration with a fiesta on the weekend of October 31 – November 1st. Free music, food, and culture on Saturday from 11:00 am – 9 pm, and Sunday from 11:00 am-6:00pm.

Fiesta de Reyes in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is planning a celebration like no other in San Diego – a free, family-friendly immersive experience The experience runs from. Sept. 1 – Nov. 2. The Fiesta de Reyes courtyard will be filled with fanciful, humorous, and visually stimulating décor.

Festival for the Senses

Dia de los muertos, Day of the Dead is set to dazzle with live music, local bands, street performances, Facepainting, rows of colorful Day of the Dead merchandise, fine art, traditional ofrendas or altars and hands on crafts kids area fill this amazing setting.

Community Spirit

San Diego’s Day of the Dead is truly a feast for the senses with the traditional flavors of this cultural fiesta. This festival celebration sees more than 100,000 participants over two days, everyone from older adults to small children with painted faces.

Each September, a transformation of Old Town’s iconic Fiesta de Reyes begins. Over a period of several weeks, colorfully decorated skulls, skeletons, catrinas, and vignettes begin to appear– many of them larger than life and often imparting humor and a light-hearted love for life. Curated displays and signage are installed, each discussing an aspect or favored legend about Dia de los Muertos. And marigolds. Thousands of marigolds.

Fiesta de Reyes is located in the north corner of the State Park with plenty of parking. It it adjacent to two parking lots and free parking is throughout Old Town with extra parking available across Taylor Street in the CalTrans parking lot all day on weekend days and after 5 p.m. on weekdays.

This year the Cosmopolitan Hotel also located in the State Park will again host the Gallery in the Garden featuring the works by local artist Robert Barros. His art has been a part of the Day of the Dead scene in Old Town since the first celebration in 2010. It all began with his work being commissioned for the theme of the event and has become a synonymous tradition.

As an added special, the Cosmo Garden Restaurant will be open and serving some amazing food that can not be found anywhere else in Old Town. It’s all part of a month-long Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Fiesta de Reyes is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. each day with extended hours on Fridays and Saturdays.