Last year, Downtown Santa Ana's Día de los Muertos came the day after Halloween. This year it comes a week later. Noche de Altares is listed for Saturday, November 7, 2026, from noon to 9 p.m. on 4th Street between Ross and Broadway. Because of the new date, the downtown celebration no longer falls on the same weekend as the November 1 and 2 events elsewhere in the city, and it lands on the first Saturday of the month, when the ArtWalk calendar normally has the galleries open into the evening.
If you've gone for years, the date isn't the only thing that changed. The order of the season is different too.
What moved between 2025 and 2026
The City of Santa Ana's 2025 street-closure notice put Noche de Altares on Saturday, noon to 10 p.m., inside a closure window that ran from October 31 through November 2, 2025. That Saturday was November 1, so Halloween night and the altars on 4th Street shared one weekend.
On the 2026 calendar, October 31 is a Saturday and November 1 is a Sunday. Noche de Altares now sits on the following Saturday.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Noche de Altares date | Saturday, Nov. 1 | Saturday, Nov. 7 |
| Listed hours | Noon to 10 p.m. | Noon to 9 p.m. |
| Same weekend as Halloween | Yes | No |
| City closure notice | Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 notice | None found as of Oct. 12 |
None of the sources gives a reason for the change or calls it a new format. All they show is the new date. Travel Santa Ana lists this as the 24th annual Noche de Altares and says El Centro Cultural de México has organized it since 2002. Admission is free.
Before downtown, the season moves through a mall, a community center, museums and a cemetery
Travel Santa Ana's 2026 Día de los Muertos guide, published October 6, lists events starting two weeks before the downtown day. The MainPlace Dia de Muertos Festival at 2800 N. Main St. runs Saturday, October 24, from 2 to 5 p.m., with live performances, face painting, art workshops and an interactive ofrenda. On Friday, October 30, the City presents Magic of the Altars from 4 to 6 p.m. at Roosevelt-Walker Community Center, 816 E. Chestnut Ave.
With downtown a week later, November 1 and 2 have their own lineup away from 4th Street:
- Sunday, November 1, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Bowers Museum holds its free Mexican Day of the Dead Family Festival at 2002 N. Main St. in the Key Courtyard, with live performances, art-making, face painting and complimentary treats.
- Sunday, November 1, 5 to 9 p.m. The Heritage Museum of Orange County, 3101 W. Harvard St., holds a free community celebration with live entertainment, food, vendors, crafts and a community ofrenda. Families can submit photographs of loved ones, including pets, to be placed on the altar.
- Monday, November 2, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary, 1702 Fairhaven Ave., hosts folklórico dancers, prayers, face painting and mariachi. The guide's summary calendar lists a 10 a.m. start, so check with Fairhaven before you go.
Bowers ends at 3 p.m. and the Heritage Museum starts at 5 p.m., so you can do both on Sunday with time in between. The same guide points out that Fairhaven is an active cemetery where families are visiting and decorating graves. It asks visitors to give families space and to leave personal offerings alone.
On the old calendar, Sunday the 1st and Monday the 2nd came right after a crowded Saturday downtown. This year they come first, and downtown follows five days later.
November 7 runs from noon to 10 p.m. on 4th Street
Three separate celebrations take place downtown on Saturday, November 7. They start at different times, and together they cover about ten hours.
- Noon: Noche de Altares opens on 4th Street between Ross and Broadway. Families, artists, students and community organizations build the ofrendas, and artisans, food vendors, face painting and cultural programming fill the rest of the block.
- Noon: El Poder de la Cultura Morelense starts at the same time and runs until 10 p.m. It brings Day of the Dead traditions from Morelos, Mexico, including Chinelos dancers in elaborate costumes, masks and decorated hats.
- 3 p.m.: Viva La Vida's 12th annual Día de Muertos Festival opens at 325 E. 4th St. and runs until 10 p.m., with altars, art, cultural programming and performances.
- 9 p.m.: Noche de Altares ends.
- 10 p.m.: El Poder de la Cultura Morelense and Viva La Vida end.
Travel Santa Ana suggests going to Noche de Altares early if the altars are your main reason for being there. Arriving in the afternoon leaves time to look closely at each ofrenda before the evening crowd. The guide also reminds visitors that the photographs and personal objects on the altars stand for real people and family histories. Don't touch them, and be considerate when photographing families or memorials.
Where the evening may move into the galleries
On the 2026 calendar, the downtown celebration also falls on the first Saturday of the month. On its organizer site, the Downtown Santa Ana ArtWalk describes itself as a free, all-ages event held from 5 to 10 p.m. on each first Saturday unless otherwise noted, with more than a dozen galleries and studios taking part. The program is still running this fall. LAist listed the October 3, 2026 ArtWalk at those same hours.
The November date isn't fully confirmed. One events calendar lists a November 7, 2026 ArtWalk from 5 to 10 p.m., but the description underneath still refers to last year's November 1 date. November 7 is a first Saturday, so the organizer's standing schedule covers it. No announcement specific to that date turned up in our research. If it goes ahead, the galleries open around the time Viva La Vida gets going and stay open until the festivals close.
ArtWalk's venue directory includes these spots near the festival blocks:
- CSUF Grand Central Art Center, 125 N. Broadway
- The galleries inside the Santora Building, 207 N. Broadway
- The Frida Cinema, 305 E. 4th St.
- GCS Clothing & Gallery, 206 E. 4th St.
- AvantGarden Fine Art Gallery, 417-B N. Broadway
The directory lists regular venues and doesn't confirm who will open on November 7. The Frida Cinema, at 305 E. 4th St., is a short walk from Viva La Vida at 325 E. 4th St.
Eating along 4th Street
For pan de muerto, Travel Santa Ana recommends Pan y Café Panadería at 324 W. 4th St. Its version is flavored with orange blossom and topped with sugar, and the shop serves café de olla to go with it. Café Cultura, next door, is the guide's pick for coffee or brunch before the celebrations start. If you want to pick up pan de muerto before the 7th, the guide also names Tlaxcala Bakery at 1208 S. Standard Ave., which bakes it during the fall season. It suggests calling ahead, since supply changes as the holiday gets close.
Café OASIS opened at 305 W. 4th St. on June 29, 2026, so this will be its first Noche de Altares. It describes itself as a community gathering space that combines a café with arts education and workforce-development programs.
Arte Restaurant, at 109 E. 4th St., is a planned opening to watch. Owner Anthony Flores told WhatNow in August that the plan is modern Mexican food during the day and Mexican-Peruvian food at dinner. No opening date had been announced at the time. No source confirms that it will be open by November 7.
Getting downtown without a closure map
As of October 12, our research found no 2026 street-closure map, shuttle plan or parking plan for Noche de Altares. The organizer's page lists the location, date, hours and a contact email, and Travel Santa Ana's guide mentions possible closures without giving a map. The 2025 notice warned of closures on Third, Fourth and Fifth streets, but that was last year's plan for last year's date, and it shouldn't be used as a guide for the 7th. Travel Santa Ana's advice is to allow extra time for crowds, parking and possible closures, wear comfortable shoes, and walk between the festivals instead of driving from one to the next.
The city operates downtown garages at 3rd Street and Broadway, 3rd and Birch, 5th and Spurgeon, and 5th and Main. The most recent rate schedule found is from 2022, so check posted signs on arrival. The county also lists rates for structures in the Civic Center. P1, the Stadium Parking Structure at 1020 Civic Center Drive, lists $0.50 per 15 minutes with a $15 daily maximum. P6, the Appellate Court Parking Structure at 601 W. Santa Ana Blvd., lists $1 per 15 minutes with a $20 daily maximum. The county page also notes that two other county lots, P3 at 690 W. Civic Center Dr. and P4 at 630 N. Broadway, are closed on weekends.
You can't take the OC Streetcar there yet. OCTA has been testing downtown, including overnight energized testing on June 25, 2026, and warns that testing can bring temporary lane or intersection closures. Its project overview puts the start of service in early 2027. You may see streetcars running on test runs that Saturday, but they won't be carrying passengers.
The Vasquez Group works across Orange County, and 4th Street on November 7 is the kind of local calendar we follow when we talk with neighbors about their homes. If you own in Santa Ana and want to know where your property stands before the year ends, Misael Vasquez and the team can put together a free home valuation, in English or en español.
