Día de los Muertos Festival

Oct 31 – Nov 1

MECA at the DOW School, 1900 Kane St, Houston, TX 77007

Illustration for Día de los Muertos Festival

Illustration

Altars, sugar skull workshops, mariachi, and processions hosted by MECA at the historic DOW School, with related events across the city.

Before you go

MECA runs this out of the DOW School at 1900 Kane St, just northwest of downtown in the Sixth Ward — not in the East End, where a lot of listings put it. The building itself is part of the appeal: a 1912 schoolhouse that has been a community arts centre for decades.

The ofrenda exhibition is the reason to come and the part that rewards going early in the day. These are built by families and community groups rather than staged as decoration, and they are worth reading rather than photographing. Once the music starts in the afternoon the room is much harder to spend time in.

This is one of several Día de los Muertos events around Houston rather than the only one, so it is easy to build an afternoon that takes in more than one. The East End and the Museum District both host their own.

It is free and it is for families, which means it is busiest in the middle of the day. Dates and the programme for 2026 post on MECA's site closer to the time.

Newsletter

The Thursday email

The weekend's best, one free thing, one place you haven't heard of.