Downtown Downey's November special events fall mostly on four days: Sunday, Nov. 1, and the run from Thursday, Nov. 12, through Saturday, Nov. 14. The downtown night market normally runs twice a month, but only one November date is listed. The Saturday farmers market keeps its usual pace all month. Beyond that, the second half of November has only a few dates on it.
This Sunday is the big one
The 13th annual Downey Día de Los Muertos Art Festival runs Sunday, Nov. 1, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Downey Theatre, 8435 Firestone Blvd. The Downey Patriot reported in August that admission and parking are both free. It also reported that organizers say the festival draws more than 20,000 visitors from across Southern California.
The date matters. Last year's 12th festival was on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, at the Downey Theatre and Civic Center, with the same 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. hours, per the Downey Patriot's 2025 coverage. Both years, the festival landed on a Sunday that was also one of the holiday's own days. This year, families who visit an ofrenda at home or at a cemetery on Nov. 1 can also make it to Firestone Boulevard the same day.
What's on the grounds
The Downey Patriot's Sept. 24 edition printed the entertainment lineup. Atrevidos, La Combinación Cubana and Mezcal De Alicia play the Zócalo beer garden. Ballet folklórico runs all day on the Main Stage and the Community Stage. Two additions are new or more prominent this year:
- Franklin Haynes Marionettes debuts a Día de los Muertos-themed puppet show that combines storytelling and puppetry with the holiday's traditions. The Patriot calls it new this year.
- Downey Kid's Gym runs a soft-play zone at the library, set aside for younger children.
The festival's 2026 activities page lists the rest of the day:
- arts and crafts
- a chalk walk
- face painting
- art displays
- car altars
- sugar-skull decorating
- food trucks
- a mercado
- a community altar
The Patriot's August preview adds fine art exhibitions, mariachi, artisan vendors, ofrendas and papel picado to that list.
In mid-October, the Main Stage and Community Stage pages still read "stay tuned" for the 2026 lineup times. If you're timing your visit around a particular folklórico group or band, check the festival site Saturday night before you leave.
Getting there without circling the block
Two street closures went to the City Council on its Sept. 22 agenda: Brookshire Avenue at 2nd Street and Civic Center Drive at 3rd Street. The item asked the council to approve them, so check the city's final notice for those two intersections before you drive in.
For parking, the festival's directions page says to use the free lot across Firestone at Downey High School, plus the public garages near 3rd Street. That page was last updated in 2023, so treat it as how the festival has handled parking before, not as this year's confirmed plan.
Before the gates open at 11
Porto's Bakery & Cafe, 8233 Firestone Blvd., is on the same boulevard as the theater and opens daily at 6:30 a.m. 3rd Street Coffee, 8221 E. 3rd St., Suite 101, has been in business since 2000 and serves pastries, boba, smoothies, sandwiches and salads. Both are good options if you want to arrive early and eat before the food truck lines form.
Ten days with just the farmers market, then a short run
After the festival wraps on Sunday night, the only regular downtown event until Thursday, Nov. 12, is the Saturday farmers market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Nov. 7. Then three listed events fall on three days in a row:
- Thursday, Nov. 12, 5 to 9 p.m.: Downtown Downey Night Market, "Noche de Rock!", at 11002 Downey Ave. A DJ plays from 5 to 9 p.m., with live Rock en Español from 6 to 9 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 13, 7 to 9 p.m.: Free Astronomy Night, as listed on the Columbia Memorial Space Center homepage's upcoming calendar.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: The city's Keep Downey Beautiful Clean Up runs from 9 to 10 a.m. The farmers market runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
That Saturday, an hour of volunteer cleanup ends just as the market is warming up. You can do both in one morning.
Noche de Rock, block by block
The night market is organized by Angel City Market. The Nov. 12 vendor application puts it in Downtown Downey between 2nd and 4th Streets. Details and free registration are on the Eventbrite event page.
Restaurants on the same stretch stay open alongside the market:
- Avenue Pizzeria, 11022 Downey Ave., serves New York-style pizza and takes online orders. It's on the same Downey Avenue stretch as the market's 11002 address.
- Mandala Cantina, 8310 3rd St., serves Thursday through Saturday, so it covers the market night, Astronomy Night and the Saturday after.
- 3rd Street Coffee works for an early-evening coffee before the live set starts at 6.
One name on Downey Avenue is still a maybe. In June 2026, Hoodline reported that Aria's Table was planned for 11045 Downey Ave. The menu would pair Mexican-American breakfast with Mediterranean-leaning lunch and dinner, but no opening date had been set. Until the doors open, treat it as announced, not open.
Why the back half of November thins out
The Downtown Downey website describes the night market as a second-and-fourth-Thursday event. In November 2026, the fourth Thursday is Nov. 26, which is Thanksgiving.
No market is listed for that date. Eventbrite's Downtown Downey Night Market collection shows October's Not-So-Spooky Halloween market and the Nov. 12 Noche de Rock, and nothing for Nov. 26. Angel City Market's Linktree has a vendor application for Nov. 12 and none for Nov. 26. For now, Nov. 12 is the only November night market on those listings.
The rest of late November is a short list:
- Sunday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m.: United States of America's California Pageants at the Downey Theatre.
- Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 23 to 25, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Fall Science Camp at Columbia Memorial Space Center. These three days fall just before Thanksgiving.
- Saturdays, Nov. 21 and Nov. 28, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: The farmers market runs both Saturdays, including the one after Thanksgiving. Its listing says "every Saturday."
If the science camp fits your household's Thanksgiving week, check registration on the Space Center's site early. It's the only multi-day program on Downey's late-November calendar.
The next big civic date is in December
After Thanksgiving, the next big civic event is the Civic Center Tree Lighting Ceremony on Monday, Dec. 7, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at 11111 Brookshire Ave. That's Brookshire again, one of the same streets planned for closure on festival day. The month opens and the season closes on the same few blocks around the Civic Center and the Downey Theatre.
Here's how November 2026 lays out:
- Nov. 1: Día de Los Muertos Art Festival, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., free admission and parking
- Nov. 12: Night Market, Noche de Rock!, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Nov. 13: Astronomy Night, 7 to 9 p.m., free
- Nov. 14: Keep Downey Beautiful Clean Up, 9 to 10 a.m., then the farmers market until 1 p.m.
- Saturdays, Nov. 7 through Nov. 28: Farmers market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Nov. 22: California Pageants, Downey Theatre, 5 p.m.
- Nov. 23 to 25: Fall Science Camp, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Nov. 26: No night market listed
- Dec. 7: Civic Center Tree Lighting, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
If the quiet weeks after the festival have you thinking about what your Downey home is worth before next year's calendar starts, Misael Vasquez and The Vasquez Group can run the numbers for you, in English or Spanish. Get your free home valuation, or say hello at the Nov. 12 market.
