Day of the Dead 2027: The Dates (Monday November 1 and Tuesday November 2), What Each Day Means, the Parade Question, Where to Go and When to Book

Day of the Dead 2027 is Monday, November 1 and Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Halloween, October 31, is a Sunday that year. The holiday is on the same two dates every year; what changes is the weekday, and in 2027 it lands at the start of the working week, which matters for flights, hotels and days off.

The 2027 dates#

November 2 is the day most cemeteries are fullest, but in Oaxaca and Michoacán the night of November 1 into November 2 is the vigil people travel for.

2028, for the planners: Wednesday, November 1 and Thursday, November 2, 2028.

The parade: no 2027 date yet#

Mexico City's Desfile de Día de Muertos does not have a 2027 date. The city announces the date and route in the weeks before, usually in October. It has been held on the Saturday before the holiday: in 2026 it was Saturday, October 31. If that pattern holds, 2027 would mean a late-October Saturday, but that is a pattern, not an announcement. We will update this page when the city publishes it. What the parade is like, and how the 2026 edition ran: the Mexico City Day of the Dead parade.

What each day means#

November 1 is for children. Families set out small sweets, toys and white flowers, and in some towns a smaller, quieter procession. November 2 is for adults: the big ofrendas, marigolds (cempasúchil), pan de muerto, the favourite food and drink of the person being remembered, candles to light the way home. Building one yourself, and what every object on it means: the Day of the Dead altar.

It is not Halloween. Costumes and face paint are a recent, mostly urban addition; in the villages the night is candles, music, food and family at a grave. Be a guest: ask before photographing people, keep your voice down in cemeteries, and buy something from the stalls.

Where to go in 2027#

Mexico City. The monumental ofrenda in the Zócalo, the parade (date pending), Catrina processions along Reforma, and the night market feel of Coyoacán. Easiest logistics, most hotel rooms. The full guide covers neighbourhoods and the week's schedule as it ran in 2026; Mexico City in November covers the weather and the rest of the month.

Oaxaca. Comparsas (costumed street parades with brass bands) in the city and the villages around it, sand tapestries, and the cemeteries of Xoxocotlán and Atzompa lit through the night. The most visited, for good reason, and the hardest to book. Oaxaca at Day of the Dead.

Pátzcuaro and Janitzio, Michoacán. The island in the lake, reached by boat, where the Purépecha vigil runs all night on November 1 into 2; the villages around the lake (Tzintzuntzan, Cucuchucho) are quieter and just as lit. Base in Pátzcuaro or Morelia.

Mixquic. A village on the southern edge of Mexico City whose cemetery vigil (the Alumbrada, the night of November 2) draws huge crowds. Doable as an evening from the city; go early and expect to walk.

When to book#

Oaxaca and Pátzcuaro: by summer 2027. Central hotels sell out months ahead and the rest raise prices for the first days of November. Mexico City: easier, but the parade weekend fills the Centro and Roma-Condesa, so a few weeks ahead is sensible. Flights into Oaxaca are limited; many people fly to Mexico City and take the bus or a short flight.

Spend it with someone from there#

The difference between watching Day of the Dead and being at it is usually one person who knows where their own family goes. Roavi's Local Friends in Mexico are people who live in Mexico City, Oaxaca and other cities and spend a few hours with visitors; they set their own hourly rate and you message them free before you meet.

Every Mexican city with a Local Friend today, with the live count: rent a friend in Mexico. For this year's edition, start at when is Day of the Dead 2026.