In San Antonio, November carries a quiet urgency not of endings, but of remembrance. Día de los Muertos is more than a holiday. It’s a living tradition, where memory, art, and community converge to honor loved ones who have passed. At Pearl, that convergence becomes part of neighborhood life.


Pearl’s Annual Celebration: Dia de los Muertos at Pearl

Each year, Pearl invites the city into its heart with a deeply rooted community celebration. In 2025, Dia de los Muertos at Pearl will take place Saturday, November 1, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., with the tradition extending across Sunday, November 2. 

Expect ofrendas (altars), live music and performances, children’s art and craft workshops, art installations, roaming entertainers, and a lively procession across the campus. 

Altars created by local artists and institutions will pay tribute both to cultural heritage and personal memories. Pearl invites the public to participate bringing photos, letters, or mementos to the main community altar.

This event is free and open to all. 


Across San Antonio: City-Wide Traditions & Events

Pearl’s event is part of a broader mosaic of Día de los Muertos in San Antonio. Here are some of the ways the city honors this time:

  • Muertos Fest at Hemisfair: One of the city’s largest celebrations, Muertos Fest features over 80 community altars, live performances, artisan markets, and nightly processions. It draws more than 100,000 attendees.

  • Calaverita Run & River Walk Tours: New in 2025 organizers added a Calaverita 5K run/walk along the River Walk route, with art, altars, and music along the path. Also, narrated riverboat tours explore tradition, symbolism, and art installations like alebrijes.

  • Tradition Trail & Art Installations: The Día de los Muertos Tradition Trail lights up downtown with giant alebrijes, altars, and public artwork. The River Walk becomes a journey through memory, art, and symbolic storytelling


Why These Traditions Matter

Día de los Muertos is rooted in a belief that the boundary between the living and departed softens during this time. Families build altars (ofrendas) with photos, favorite foods, candles, marigolds, and symbolic items inviting the souls of loved ones to return for a night.

But beyond ritual, this tradition becomes a communal experience of history and culture. In San Antonio, a city shaped by Mexican, Indigenous, Spanish, and more recent traditions this observance offers a way to anchor memory in public space.

At Pearl, that anchoring is physical (in altars, art, procession) and emotional (in gathering, storytelling, presence).


Living Among Memory: Pearl, Cellars, & Remembrance

For residents or visitors to Cellars at Pearl, Día de los Muertos is more than an event; it's woven into the neighborhood’s pulse. The celebrations, altars, and artistic expressions spill into the shared space; reminders of what has been, what has been loved, and what endures.

Walking home during that weekend might mean passing through a procession. It might mean pausing in front of a glowing altar. It might mean feeling the hush that settles when memory takes shape.

At Cellars, you live not outside tradition, but beside it where heritage, art, and remembrance define the days as much as the walls.