This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, and San Jose's two longest-running community Día de los Muertos celebrations are scheduled for that same evening. Calpulli Tonahlehqueh's 22nd annual Micailhuitl opens at History Park at 2 p.m. on Oct. 31. Three and a half hours later, the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza opens its 10th Avenida de Altares on Alum Rock Avenue. Both have built Halloween into their schedules, and that sorts the whole weekend by the clock. Saturday after dark happens on the east side of the city, and Sunday moves into daylight at Santana Row and the Children's Discovery Museum.
Saturday, hour by hour
Here is how the Saturday listings fit together, based on the Mercury News Día de los Muertos roundup and the organizers' own pages:
- 2 p.m. Micailhuitl opens at History Park, 635 Phelan Ave. Admission is free.
- Before dark Kids' activities run at History Park, including sugar skull decorating, flower-crown making, bounce houses and a trunk-or-treat that happens on Saturday only.
- 5 p.m. A community procession starts Micailhuitl's Aztec dance ceremony.
- 5:30 p.m. Avenida de Altares opens at 1700 Alum Rock Ave. It's free with an RSVP.
- 10 p.m. Micailhuitl closes for the night.
- 10:30 p.m. Avenida de Altares closes.
The hours overlap from 5:30 to 10 p.m. One event starts its day at 2 p.m. and the other runs until 10:30, so the two calendars leave room for an afternoon at History Park followed by an evening on Alum Rock Avenue.
Why Halloween night fits the tradition
The overlap isn't an accident of the calendar. The Micailhuitl event page explains the timing directly. It says that in the tradition, the souls of children who have died are believed to come down at midnight on Oct. 31 and reunite with their families on Nov. 1, and the souls of adults visit on Nov. 2. That puts Halloween night on the eve of the holiday's first day, the one that centers children. A trunk-or-treat in the same park as a community ofrenda follows from that.
Calpulli Tonahlehqueh describes its work as reconnecting with and sharing Indigenous cultural identity, ancestral knowledge and communal work. On its 2026 event page, the group calls Micailhuitl a celebration of Mexica culture, with an ofrenda, food trucks, artisan crafts, face painters and vendors. The Mercury News listing adds live music, DJs, ballet folklórico, live painting and lowriders.
The setting matters too. History Park's preserved buildings sit inside Kelley Park, and a 5 p.m. procession on Oct. 31 begins just as the light starts to fade. If you're bringing trick-or-treat-age kids, the before-dark window is the part of the day built for them.
Alum Rock Avenue after dark
Avenida de Altares works differently. It's an evening event, and the street itself is part of the program. The Mercury News describes it as filling Alum Rock Avenue with altars honoring loved ones, along with artisan vendors, hands-on art activities and live performances. The organizer's 2026 page lists a community altar gallery, art activities, vendors and face painting, and says the performance lineup is still to be announced.
By the organizer's count, 2026 is the tenth edition. Mexican Heritage Plaza dates the event's debut to 2017 and called the 2025 gathering its ninth annual. The 2025 edition was held on Saturday, Nov. 1, so this year's moves back a day onto Halloween itself.
The tradition has held through hard years. In 2020, the Mercury News reported that the plaza turned Avenida into a two-night drive-through gallery of illuminated altars because COVID-19 had disrupted the usual in-person festivities. In 2024, Metro Silicon Valley credited Chris Esparza, the plaza's former community development director, with bringing traditional danza groups to Mexican Heritage Plaza and establishing the first Avenida.
That history connects the two Saturday events. Avenida began by bringing danza into the plaza's Día de los Muertos observance, and Micailhuitl is organized by a danza group. On Halloween night, both kinds of celebration run at once in different parts of the city.
Getting to Phelan Avenue
The Micailhuitl organizers have published practical details. For Avenida, the 2026 page has not posted street-closure blocks or a parking plan, so check mhplaza.org before you head out. For History Park, the Micailhuitl FAQ lists these options:
- Closest lot: a small dedicated lot at the main entrance, 635 Phelan Ave.
- Larger lot: the Kelley Park lot at the end of Phelan Avenue, a short walk from the park, for $6.
- Overflow: the San José State South Campus Garage at 10th and Alma, where a $6 daily fee may apply.
- Transit: VTA Route 73 to Senter Road and Phelan Avenue, then about a five-minute walk. Caltrain, ACE and Amtrak riders can transfer to Route 73 at the Downtown San Jose transit hub.
On a Saturday that is also Halloween, with trick-or-treaters out across the city by early evening, the bus option and the overflow garage are worth keeping in mind.
Sunday moves into daylight
On Nov. 1 the schedule shifts. Micailhuitl returns for a second day at History Park, and two hosted events open across town. All of Sunday's options end by early evening.
| Sunday, Nov. 1 | Where | Hours | Cost | What sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micailhuitl, day two | History Park, 635 Phelan Ave. | 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Free | Second day of the community altars, music and vendors |
| Children's Discovery Museum celebration | 180 Woz Way | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., per the Mercury News | $20 to $22 | A calacas procession led by Teatro Familia Aztlán |
| Santana Row Día de Los Muertos Celebration | 377 Santana Row | Noon to 5 p.m. | See event page | M.A.N.O.S Folklorico and a Marigold Mercado |
The museum's program is designed for young kids. The Mercury News lists sand painting with stencils, calavera painting, Marigold Butterfly mask making, Aztec dancers and giant skeleton puppets. The calacas procession makes a special stop at Lupe, the museum's 14,000-year-old mammoth. The museum's own event page lists hours of 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., later than the newspaper's 2 p.m. close, so plan around the earlier time or confirm at cdm.org first. The San José Multicultural Artists Guild is listed as a partner on the program.
At Santana Row, The Pop-Up Shoppes is hosting folklórico performances by M.A.N.O.S Folklorico, mariachi music, Catrinas and Catríns, and community ofrendas. The Marigold Mercado features local artisans and Latino-owned businesses, and there's a cempasúchil flower bar, face painting and family crafts.
The cempasúchil flower bar fits the timing. Marigolds are the flower of the ofrenda, and on Nov. 1 there's still a day left before Nov. 2, the date the Micailhuitl organizers associate with the adults' visit. If you're building or adding to a home altar for Monday, Sunday afternoon on Santana Row is a natural place to pick up flowers.
The ofrendas that stay up after the weekend
One exhibit runs past the weekend. "Art of Remembrance," a show of ofrendas by local artists at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, 150 E. San Fernando St., is open through Nov. 5. It's presented by the San José Multicultural Artists Guild and SJSU King Library, and admission is free. If the weekend fills up, the library's exhibit is a weekday option in the middle of downtown.
After that, downtown moves on to the winter season. Christmas in the Park lists its Downtown Park Experience at Plaza de César Chávez from Nov. 27, 2026, through Jan. 1, 2027, open daily from noon to 10 p.m. The event calendar shows the Opening Night Ceremony on Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. Winter Wonderland runs in two phases. From Nov. 27 to Dec. 16 it's based mainly at the Paseo while Market Street stays open to traffic. From Dec. 17 to Jan. 3, southbound Market Street closes for an expanded festival area.
At Jide Homes, we follow San Jose's community calendar as closely as we follow its market, because which events a neighborhood hosts, and when, is part of everyday life there. If you're weighing which part of San Jose fits the way you like to spend a weekend, request a market consultation and we'll walk you through it.
