Albuquerque has two Día de los Muertos celebrations, and both happen on Sunday, November 1. At noon the South Valley Día de los Muertos Celebration and Marigold Procession leaves from the Westside Community Center at 1250 Isleta Blvd SW. The celebration there runs until 4 p.m. That same day, Old Town Albuquerque's Día de los Muertos is on day three of a free ten-day run that lasts from October 30 to November 8.
The two events are separated by decades of history and by who pays for them. The South Valley procession is in its 34th year. Its organizers describe it as grassroots and non-corporate, and right now they're asking neighbors for money to keep it going. Old Town's festival is in its fourth year and has a row of institutional sponsors. Their schedules barely overlap, so you can fit both into one long weekend if you know what each one is.
Noon on Isleta Boulevard is a 1993 neighborhood procession
The South Valley event started small. According to a history published by the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House, Sandra and Jorge Rodriguez introduced Muertos y Marigolds in 1993 as a neighborhood procession and added arts workshops later. The Raramuri Center hosted it first. It then spent nearly two decades at the West Side Community Center.
The procession has always been political. Muertos y Marigolds traces its art back to José Guadalupe Posada's calaveras, the skeleton prints he used for satire and comedy. Its stated mission includes "cultural self-determination," intergenerational learning through "art, music, food, dance and political satire," and "pride in South Valley cultural identity through our grassroots, non-corporate organizing." In 2024 the Albuquerque Journal described the event as a way to bring the South Valley together around community issues. Its photo coverage that year showed the parade moving along Isleta Boulevard.
So if you're on Isleta at noon on November 1, expect calaveras with something to say about the neighborhood, carried by the people who made them.
Most of the event happens before the parade
The procession comes at the end of a season of workshops. Every Saturday since mid-September, Muertos y Marigolds has held art workshops, alternating between two venues. Here's the 2026 schedule from the workshops page:
- Sep 12: Woodblock Printing, 12–3 p.m., Gutiérrez-Hubbell House
- Sep 19 and Sep 26: Paper Mache I, then Paper Mache Part II + Altars, 12–3 p.m., National Hispanic Cultural Center
- Oct 3: Poetry, 3–5 p.m., Gutiérrez-Hubbell House, tied to the opening of the "Ofrendas Comunitarias" exhibit
- Oct 10 and Oct 17: Papel Picado, then Mosaics, 12–3 p.m., National Hispanic Cultural Center
- Oct 24: Screen Printing, 12–3 p.m., Gutiérrez-Hubbell House
When this post goes live on October 22, only the screen printing session is left. It falls on Saturday, October 24, eight days before the parade. Whatever you print that afternoon can end up on Isleta Boulevard on November 1. These workshops are also why the procession looks the way it does. The papier-mâché, the papel picado and the printed banners come out of these Saturdays.
Who pays for each celebration
Funding is the biggest difference between the two events. Muertos y Marigolds says its workshops, parade, celebration and ofrenda exhibit cost about $12,000 a year in materials, artists, rentals, equipment and staffing. In mid-October 2026 its donation tracker showed $1,202 raised toward a $7,000 goal. The organizers say they get in-kind support from Bernalillo County and some community groups. They also say that support "has diminished due to budget cuts adopted by the state government and other agencies," so they now rely more on donated time and money.
"We, the organizers of these much loved South Valley events, must now rely more and more on your donations of time and finances."
Old Town's festival has a different backing. Its event page lists New Mexico True, French Funerals & Cremations, Visit Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and Nusenda Credit Union as sponsors. Bernalillo County shows up on both lists. It supports the long-running South Valley procession with in-kind help and appears among Old Town's sponsors too.
The money explains the scale. Old Town can string up more than 15,000 feet of marigold garland, which it calls the Marigold Mile. The South Valley is working out how to cover its next workshop.
Old Town's ten days, and what's new for 2026
Old Town's festival is built for wandering. Every day of the event you'll find more than 30 ofrendas tucked into patios and portals around Old Town, plus a community ofrenda in the plaza gazebo decorated by students from San Felipe de Neri Catholic School and Escuela del Sol Montessori.
The papier-mâché collection grows each year. JOMO, the sculpture artists whose work you can also see at Doublecat Oddities in the Plazuela Sombra patio, built La Catrina, the Tree of Life and El Xolo Dog over the past two years. A new sculpture joins them on the plaza for 2026, and it won't be revealed until the event.
The 2026 highlights list includes:
- Family Day on both Saturdays, October 31 and November 7, with free showings of "Coco" in the San Felipe de Neri church courtyard
- The GLOBITOS Candlelight Glow, with model hot air balloons about 20 feet tall
- The Catrina Procession, open to anyone dressed in Catrina attire
- The Dance of the Matachines, moved this year to a spot Old Town says is easier to see
- A candlelight procession on November 2, starting 30 minutes after sundown
Old Town hasn't posted its full 2026 daily schedule. It says the structure of this year's daily schedules and plans will be similar to 2025's. In 2025 the Matachines danced at 11 a.m. on North Plaza Street on November 1. The Catrina Procession went from 5:30 to 6 p.m. that day, along a route of about half a mile, with participants gathering at 5 p.m. in the San Felipe de Neri Church parking lot. Treat those as last year's times, not this year's, and check the Old Town page before you plan around them.
Plaza de los Recuerdos is already full
For two nights, November 1 and 2, Old Town Plaza becomes Plaza de los Recuerdos, where community members set up their own altars. Reservations are free. In mid-October all 80 spaces were taken and Old Town had opened a waitlist.
If you got a spot or get one off the waitlist, these are the rules Old Town has posted:
- Setup starts at 8 a.m. on November 1. You can also set up after 7 p.m. on October 31.
- Your ofrenda has to stay on public display through November 1 and 2.
- Remove it by noon on November 4.
Each space measures at least 6 by 6 feet. Organizers encourage photos, mementos, papel picado, marigolds and favorite foods, and they recommend LED candles. Open flames are allowed only on the evening of November 2. The Evening of Remembrance starts at 5 p.m. that night. Sunset in Albuquerque on November 2 is at 5:11 p.m., according to timeanddate.com. Since the candlelight procession starts 30 minutes after sundown, it should begin around 5:41 p.m. In 2025 the walk was listed at 6 p.m.
How to do both in one weekend
Because the schedules hardly overlap, you can go to both:
- Saturday, October 31: Family Day in Old Town, with "Coco" in the church courtyard. The ofrendas around Old Town are up for the whole event.
- Sunday, November 1, noon: The Marigold Procession leaves from the Westside Community Center on Isleta Blvd SW. The celebration there runs until 4 p.m.
- Sunday, November 1, evening: Head to Old Town to see the first night of Plaza de los Recuerdos. If Old Town keeps last year's pattern, the Catrina Procession will happen around dusk.
- Monday, November 2, after 5 p.m.: The Evening of Remembrance at Plaza de los Recuerdos, the one night open flames are allowed, followed by the candlelight procession shortly after sunset.
The South Valley procession happens once, at noon on Sunday. Old Town gives you ten days and two evenings at the plaza. If you can only go to one thing in person, the South Valley procession is the one you can't make up later. If you want to support it beyond showing up, the donation link is on the Muertos y Marigolds site, and the organizers say they welcome volunteers too.
Local agents at R1 Real Estate Pros work in Albuquerque's neighborhoods, from the South Valley to Old Town, and follow their calendars as closely as their listings. If your plans include a move, start your home search with an R1 agent.
