Highlights for 2025!

Name: Dia De Los Muertos In Old Town Albuquerque 2025 | Old Town Albuquerque
Start: 2024-10-25T14:00:00-06:00
End: 2024-11-03T21:00:00-07:00
Location: Old Town Albuquerque

“Family Day” will be on BOTH Saturdays! Free showings of “Coco” [Oct 25th] projected within the adobe walls of the church courtyard.
GLOBITOS Candlelight Glow – Model Hot Air Balloon Glow: Watch towering 20ft tall model hot air balloons fill the street and church courtyard. On Saturday Oct 25th, Sunday Oct 26th and Thursday Oct 30th
Catrina Procession [Nov 1st]: An opportunity to dress in traditional Día de los Muertos Catrina skull attire and parade through the streets of Old Town, showcasing exquisite costumes and designs.
The Dance of the Matachines [Nov 1st] is back again with a much better location for the dance to be seen from.
A candlelight procession [Nov 2nd] to remember our loved ones will take place 30 minutes after sundown on November 2nd (all are invited).
Paper-mâché sculptures [All week long] Last year two 10ft sculptures were added to the plaza. We will have a new sculpture addition to the plaza this year! Come during the event to see!
Plaza de los Recuerdos: For ONE TWO NIGHTS ONLY (Nov 1st – 2nd), Old Town Plaza will turn into Plaza de los Recuerdos, where the Albuquerque community brings altars and ofrendas and adorns Old Town Plaza. Sign-up to bring an ofrenda. Limited spots are available.

The Feel: Imagine strolling through Old Town in the week leading up to Día de los Muertos (October 24 to November 2, 2025). Music drifts from patios while shops and plazas glow with orange and yellow marigolds, thousands strung together as the Marigold Mile. Hidden patios and courtyards open to reveal ofrendas alive with color, calaveras, photos, and offerings that celebrate memories of loved ones.

From within San Felipe de Neri, the first drumbeats of the Matachines echo outward. Their dance bursts into the plaza, carrying with it centuries of New Mexican tradition and culture. As night falls, a candlelight procession winds through Old Town, filling the streets with hundreds of flickering flames. Globitos, small hot air balloons lit from within, rise and shimmer, adding their own bursts of light and color to the night. At Plaza de los Recuerdos, families gather among more than 50 community-built ofrendas as a curandero offers a blessing, weaving together prayer, memory, and celebration.

Everywhere you turn, you are greeted by symbols of life and remembrance: a towering Catrina sculpture and a glowing Tree of Life, standing proudly as tributes to connection across generations. This journey through Old Town offers more than just sights, it is an immersive experience that brings the rich traditions of Día de los Muertos to life.

Schedule of Events!

Daily Features

The following features will be available throughout Old Town every-day during the entire duration of the event.

Ofrenda Tour: See 30+ ofrendas (altars) scattered throughout all of Old Town with unique themes, decorations, and more. Wander the hidden patios and portals of Old Town and find another ofrenda hidden around the next corner.
Papier Mache Sculptures: Master sculpture artists, JOMO (and if you’d like to see more of their work please visit Old Towns very own Doublecat Oddities in the Poco a Poco patio) have created a new towering papier mache sculpture to add to what they built last year. Come see the La Catrina, the Tree of Life, and new for 2025 a towering Xolo (Xoloitzcuintli) Dog sculpture in person on the Old Town plaza.
Community Ofrenda: A large ornately decorated community ofrenda in the middle of the gazebo in Old Town. This ofrenda is decorated by community members and students of San Felipe de Neri Catholic School and Escuela del Sol Montessori.
Old Town Decorations: Wander the streets of Old Town and see papel picado, marigolds, fall colors, and more adorning the charming adobe buildings in throughout Old Town.
Marigold Mile! See over 15k feet of marigold garland line the beams, vigas, lights, adobe, and historic structures throughout Old Town.

Saturday – October 25th, 2025
Family Day

All events are free unless noted by a ($) and take place in Old Town Albuquerque. Also, you don’t want to miss the Daily Features.

9am-2pm Classic Truck Show by 79s Truck Club | North Plaza Street
- Classic trucks decorated in Día de los Muertos style, with ofrendas built right on their truck beds.
10am-11am Morning Open Prayer | Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe
11am-5pm Facepainting by Fantasy Facepaint ($) | Christmas Shop West Patio
11am-8pm Chalk Drawing on the Patio | Old Town Kokopelli Cafe
12pm-4pm Crafts on the Patio | Tiny Grocer ABQ
- Paper flower making, papel picado making, facepainting ($), pumpkin painting ($) and ojos de dios
2pm-4pm Building Traditions: The Art and History of Ofrendas ($60pp) | Luna and Luz
2:30pm-3pm Ehecatl Aztec Dancers | North Plaza Street
- Kalpulli Ehecatl, based in Albuquerque, carries on the centuries-old Mexica warrior dance tradition founded by Mapitzmitl Xiukwetzpaltzin (PAZ) in 1986, performing in Nahuatl, Spanish, and English.
- Rooted in a ritual worldview over a thousand years old, these dances use movement, drums, and rattles to invoke the balance of life, death, earth, and spirit.
- The tradition connects directly to Día de los Muertos—the Mexica honored Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead, through annual dances that tended ancestral bones and celebrated the return of spirits to the living world.
3pm-4pm Offeratory Herbs for your Ofrenda ($15pp) | Old Town Herbal
- Create a small herbal offering blend for your altar ($15pp)
3:30pm-4pm Ehecatl Aztec Dancers | North Plaza Street
- Kalpulli Ehecatl, based in Albuquerque, carries on the centuries-old Mexica warrior dance tradition founded by Mapitzmitl Xiukwetzpaltzin (PAZ) in 1986, performing in Nahuatl, Spanish, and English.
- Rooted in a ritual worldview over a thousand years old, these dances use movement, drums, and rattles to invoke the balance of life, death, earth, and spirit.
- The tradition connects directly to Día de los Muertos—the Mexica honored Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead, through annual dances that tended ancestral bones and celebrated the return of spirits to the living world.
4pm-5pm Mass | San Felipe de Neri Church
5pm-8pm GLOBITOS Candlelight Glow – Model Hot Air Balloon Glow | North Plaza Street
6:30pm-8pm Coco the Movie | San Felipe de Neri Church Hidden Courtyard
- Bring your own chair and experience the magic of this timeless film projected within the hidden courtyard adobe walls.

Sunday – October 26th, 2025
Day of the Tread

All events are free unless noted by a ($) and take place in Old Town Albuquerque. Also, you don’t want to miss the Daily Features.

7am-8am Mass | San Felipe de Neri Church
9am-10am Mass | San Felipe de Neri Church
10am-12pm Day of the Tread – 4K Community Fun Walk through Old Town
- Register for the 4k Walk
11am-12pm Mass | San Felipe de Neri Church
11am-8pm Chalk Drawing on the Patio | Old Town Kokopelli Cafe
11am-2pm Music on the Patio by Jacob Shije | Tiny Grocer ABQ
12pm-4pm Margold Farmstall | Christmas Shop West Patio
- Flowers & garland by Vida Verde
12pm-4pm Crafts on the Patio | Tiny Grocer ABQ
- Paper flower making, papel picado making, facepainting ($), pumpkin painting ($) and ojos de dios
12pm-5pm Facepainting by Fantasy Facepaint ($) | Gobble This
1pm-4pm Fragrance Exploration: A Candle Making Experience ($120pp) | Luna and Luz
2pm-2:30pm Desoluna Folklorico Dancers | Poco a Poco Patio
3pm-5pm GLOBITOS – Model Hot Air Balloons | North Plaza Street
5:30pm-6pm Folklorico del Valle | Plaza Don Luis