The dates, what happens on each of the two days, and where the observance comes from.
Día de los Muertos falls on the same dates every year: November 1 and November 2.
In 2026 that is Sunday, November 1 and Monday, November 2.
November 1 is Día de los Angelitos (also called Día de los Inocentes), the day children who have died are remembered. November 2 is the day adults who have died are honored.
Most of the preparation happens before then. Ofrendas go up in the days beforehand, and in many families and communities candles are lit and vigils begin on the evening of October 31.
| Year | November 1 — Día de los Angelitos | November 2 — Día de los Muertos | Vigils often begin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Sunday, November 1, 2026 | Monday, November 2, 2026 | Evening of Saturday, October 31 |
| 2027 | Monday, November 1, 2027 | Tuesday, November 2, 2027 | Evening of Sunday, October 31 |
| 2028 | Wednesday, November 1, 2028 | Thursday, November 2, 2028 | Evening of Tuesday, October 31 |
| 2029 | Thursday, November 1, 2029 | Friday, November 2, 2029 | Evening of Wednesday, October 31 |
| 2030 | Friday, November 1, 2030 | Saturday, November 2, 2030 | Evening of Thursday, October 31 |
The dates never move. Because they are fixed to the calendar rather than to the moon, Día de los Muertos is one of the few observances you only have to look up once — from year to year, only the days of the week change.
Día de los Muertos 2026 falls on Sunday, November 1 and Monday, November 2, 2026, with vigils and last preparations from the evening of Saturday, October 31. It is a good year for it: both days sit against a weekend, so families who have to travel to a cemetery can.
Día de los Muertos 2027 falls on Monday, November 1 and Tuesday, November 2, 2027, with the vigils beginning on the evening of Sunday, October 31 — the two days themselves land on work and school days.
Día de los Muertos 2028 falls on Wednesday, November 1 and Thursday, November 2, 2028, the vigils starting the evening of Tuesday, October 31. This is the year the observance sits furthest from a weekend, which in many households means the ofrenda goes up the weekend before.
Día de los Muertos 2029 falls on Thursday, November 1 and Friday, November 2, 2029, with vigils from the evening of Wednesday, October 31 — the second day runs straight into a weekend.
Día de los Muertos 2030 falls on Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2, 2030, with vigils from the evening of Thursday, October 31, giving the cemetery visits on November 2 a full Saturday.
Honoring the dead with food, flowers and offerings is an old practice in Mesoamerica, older than the arrival of the Spanish. After the conquest those practices met the Catholic calendar — All Saints' Day on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2 — and over centuries the two grew together into what is observed today across Mexico and in Mexican communities elsewhere.
The central idea is a homecoming. The dead are understood to return for a short visit, and the living prepare for them: the house is cleaned, the ofrenda is built, the food they liked is cooked, their photograph is put where everyone can see it. What people describe most often is not grief but company — a night of sitting with the dead the way you would sit with anyone who had come a long way.
UNESCO added Mexico's indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008, after proclaiming it a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003.
The ofrenda is finished, candles are lit, and marigold petals are laid. In a number of communities — most famously around Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacán — families go to the cemetery at nightfall and stay until morning.
The day for children who have died. Their part of the ofrenda is set with toys, sweets, small portions and often white flowers and white candles, and the family remembers them by name.
The day for adults. Families visit the cemetery, clean and decorate the graves, and stay with them — eating the food the person liked, playing the music they liked, telling the stories about them again.
In the United States the ofrenda is still the heart of it, built at home, often holding relatives who died in Mexico alongside relatives who died here. Around it, a public layer has grown: museums, libraries, universities, schools and cultural centers build community ofrendas in late October and invite people to add a photograph of their own.
If you are visiting one of those community ofrendas and it is not your family's tradition, the simplest and most welcome way to take part is to bring a photograph of someone you loved, add it, and say their name out loud.
Día de los Muertos is Sunday, November 1 and Monday, November 2, 2026. In many families and communities the preparations and vigils begin on the evening of Saturday, October 31.
Yes. It falls on November 1 and November 2 every year. The dates are fixed to the calendar, alongside All Saints' Day on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2, so only the days of the week change from year to year.
Día de los Muertos 2027 is Monday, November 1 and Tuesday, November 2, 2027, with vigils and final preparations from the evening of Sunday, October 31.
Día de los Muertos 2028 is Wednesday, November 1 and Thursday, November 2, 2028, with vigils from the evening of Tuesday, October 31.
Día de los Muertos 2029 is Thursday, November 1 and Friday, November 2, 2029. Día de los Muertos 2030 is Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2, 2030. In both years the vigils begin on the evening of October 31.
November 1 is Día de los Angelitos, also called Día de los Inocentes, when children who have died are remembered. November 2 is when adults who have died are honored. Many families mark both.
The observance itself is November 1 and 2, but the work of it starts earlier. Ofrendas are built in the days beforehand, and in many communities candles are lit and all-night vigils begin on the evening of October 31.
It is not a mandatory rest day under Article 74 of Mexico's Federal Labor Law. In practice it is very widely observed: schools commonly close and many workplaces give time off, particularly on November 2.
It translates as Day of the Dead. It is a remembrance rather than a day of mourning: families welcome back the people they have lost with their favorite food, flowers, music and the stories that are told about them.
Mexican American families keep ofrendas at home, often adding relatives who died in Mexico and relatives who died in the United States. Museums, libraries, schools and cultural centers across the country build community ofrendas and hold public events during the first days of November.
The ofrenda, the marigolds, pan de muerto, the calaveras and the cemetery vigil, explained.
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An ofrenda holds objects. What makes them mean anything is the story attached — who cooked that dish, where that photograph was taken, why that song. Those stories live only in the people who still remember them, and they are the first thing to go.
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