Honor the Departed at El Paso Dia de los Muertos Events in Nov.

The largest Día de los Muertos celebration in the city was a huge success, but ofrenda season isn’t over in El Paso

Those looking to honor loved ones who have passed on a smaller scale than the city’s recent downtown festival can do so at two upcoming family-friendly events: the Dia de los Muertos Festival at Concordia Cemetery and the Dia de los Muertos Altar Contest at the El Paso Funeral Museum.

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Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, honors loved ones we have lost and is typically celebrated on November 1 and 2.

But because this year those dates fall on a Monday and Tuesday, the Concordia Heritage Association and El Paso Funeral Museum will be holding their celebrations on Saturday, November 6.

Each of the events will include catrinas, catrins, calaveras and community altars, or ofrendas.

Concordia Cemetery Dia De Los Muertos Festival

Fernando Cuevas/Joackim Weiler via Unsplash

After the event was scrapped in 2020 due to the global pandemic, the Concordia Cemetery Dia De Los Muertos Festival returns to being an in-person event.

What’s more, the day-long celebration of our dearly departed will be back to “pre-Covid normal,” according to the Concordia Heritage Association, organizers of the annual gathering.

That means all the familiar activities and festivities you know and love are returning: the larger-than-life dancing puppets (Mojigangas), the dusk fire dance, and performances from El Paso’s own Wild West reenactors Six Guns and Shady Ladies.

Also returning are various arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, and face painters.

The cool thing about this particular celebration is that it’s the only one in El Paso held in a cemetery, which is the traditional setting for Dia de los Muertos observances in Mexico.

What to Know If You Plan to Go

Dia de los Muertos Festival at Concordia Cemetery
Saturday, November 6, 2p.m. to 8 p.m.
$5 ages 6 and up, under 6 free.

Tickets will be sold at the Yandell entrance to the cemetery the day of the event. Proceeds benefit Concordia Heritage Association which maintains, preserves and protects Concordia Cemetery.

El Paso Funeral Museum Dia de los Muertos Altar Contest

El Paso Funeral Museum Facebook

Located at 6111 S. Desert Blvd. inside Perches Funeral Home, the El Paso Funeral Museum is arguably the most unique in town.

Like other more traditional museums, the El Paso Funeral Museum has exhibits, memorabilia, oddities, artifacts and, yes, even a gift shop. They’re just all related to the culture of death and dying, and the funeral industry.

Among the displays is an exhibit dedicated to Día De los Muertos Altars, which will be the focus of the museum’s Dia de los Muertos event.

Activites and festivities will include storytelling and book readings from La Calaca Maldonado and Kiarita Calaverita, “slime activity” with the Young Ghostbusters, as well as vendors and food trucks

What to Know If You Plan to Go

Dia de los Muertos Altar Contest at El Paso Funeral Museum
6111 S. Desert Blvd.
Saturday, November 6, 4p.m. to 8 p.m.
Admission is free

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