Día de Muertos in Oaxaca runs October 31 to November 2, 2026. Which cemeteries are active on which night, how to behave, and when the official programme is actually published.

Day of the Dead in Oaxaca 2026: Dates, Cemeteries & What's Confirmed

Oaxaca is where most people want to be for Día de Muertos, and it is also where the most misinformation circulates. Right now, in mid-September, the 2026 programme has not been published, and several sites are already advertising dates for it — by recycling a press release from October 2025.

Here is what is actually fixed for 2026, what has repeated year after year and is a reasonable basis for planning, and what to wait for.

What Is Certain


The nights	October 31, November 1 and November 2, 2026
Where	Oaxaca de Juárez and the surrounding towns
The programme	Not published yet — expect it in early-to-mid October
Cost	Most of the public programme is free

Two reference points for scale: in 2025 the state announced a programme of more than 140 activities, around 95% of them free. That was 2025 — treat it as the shape of a normal year, not as this year's calendar.

One thing already confirmed for 2026: Oaxaca is the guest state at the Día de Muertos festival in Zacatecas, running October 26 to November 3, 2026. That is in Zacatecas, not in Oaxaca — worth knowing if you see the dates and assume otherwise.

The Cemeteries, Night by Night

This is the part visitors most want to plan, and it has held steady across recent years. Treat it as the usual pattern and confirm locally when you arrive.

Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán — about 10 minutes from the city, with two cemeteries. The big vigil is the night of October 31 into November 1, running until dawn. It is the most visited by outsiders.

Santa María Atzompa — about 20 minutes away. Graves are lit with candles from October 31, and a costumed procession takes place on November 2.

San Agustín Etla — about 15 km, roughly 35 minutes on highway 190. The vigil runs through the night of November 1 into November 2, with muerteadas — the costumed, all-night processions the town is known for — starting around 10pm on November 1.

In the city itself — Oaxaca de Juárez's five municipal cemeteries (Xochimilco, Jardín, General, Marquesado and San Miguel) have opened across October 31, November 1 and November 2, with visits during the day and into the late evening.

How to Be There Respectfully

These are graves, and families are tending them. Local reporting in recent years has been direct about visitors who treat cemeteries as a set: the phrase that comes up is that they are "not museums, nor circuses". People have described being photographed while cleaning a relative's grave, without being asked.

The practical version:

Ask before photographing anyone or any grave. A refusal is not rudeness.
Keep your distance from a family's ritual. Watch, don't join, unless you are invited.
Follow the municipal requests published in recent years: take your rubbish with you, and put flowers in sand or sawdust rather than standing water, which is a dengue measure.
Go with a local guide if you can. It changes both what you understand and how you are received.

The Programme: What Usually Happens, and When It's Announced

In a normal year the city fills with comparsas and muerteadas (costumed processions), a Catrina contest, concerts in the Alameda and other plazas, monumental sand carpets (tapetes de arena), and markets dedicated to the season. The venues move from year to year: in 2025 the sand carpets were at the Jalatlaco church atrium rather than the Plaza de la Danza, where they have been in other years.

When it gets published: the state and municipal programmes came out on October 8 and October 21 in 2025. Expect the 2026 calendar at a similar point — early-to-mid October, a few weeks before the dates. There is no official PDF; announcements come as press bulletins.

Until then, treat any site publishing a precise 2026 schedule with suspicion, especially if the dates look like "October 25 to November 4". That is last year's window.

Planning the Trip

Book accommodation now. In recent years, hotel occupancy in the city over Día de Muertos has run in the region of 80% or more, and that is the constraint people hit first.

Give it more than one night. October 31 in Xoxocotlán, November 1 into November 2 in Etla, and the city itself in between — one evening covers none of it properly.

Getting to the towns. Xoxocotlán, Atzompa and Etla are all short trips from the city, but they are separate places with their own rhythms. Plan the return trip before you go: these are late nights, and the crowds are heaviest exactly when everyone wants to leave.

Watch for the road closures. Parade routes through the centre have closed streets from late afternoon in past years. The 2026 notice will come with the programme.

What Is Not Published Yet for 2026

So you know what you are still waiting on:

The state and municipal programmes, with dates and venues.
Comparsa and convite routes and times.
Where the sand carpets will be.
Cemetery opening hours and any specific visitor rules.
Road closures for the parade.

All of it usually lands in the first half of October. If you are building a trip now, book the room and keep the evenings flexible.

FAQ

When is Day of the Dead in Oaxaca 2026? The nights of October 31, November 1 and November 2, 2026. The official programme around them has not been published yet.

Which cemetery should I go to? Xoxocotlán for the October 31 vigil, San Agustín Etla for the night of November 1 into November 2 and its muerteadas, Santa María Atzompa for candles from October 31 and a procession on November 2. The city's own cemeteries are open across all three days.

Is there an entrance fee for the cemeteries? No official fee has been published. Claims of a set wristband price circulate on travel sites without an official source — don't plan around them.

Can I take photos? Ask first. There is no official ban, but families are tending graves, and consent is the rule locals ask for.

Is the programme free? Most of it usually is — in 2025 the state said around 95% of its activities were free.

When will the 2026 programme be announced? Based on last year, early-to-mid October, as press bulletins rather than a single PDF.

Summary

October 31 to November 2, with Xoxocotlán on the 31st and Etla through the night of the 1st. The programme lands in early October, so book a room now and keep the evenings open. Ask before you photograph anyone, take your rubbish out with you, and ignore any site that already claims to know this year's exact schedule.

The other great destination: the candlelit island vigil at Janitzio, on Lake Pátzcuaro, on the night of November 1 — with the Michoacán travel advisory to read first: Day of the Dead in Pátzcuaro & Janitzio.

Planning the wider trip? See our Day of the Dead in Mexico 2026 guide — or browse events in Mexico.

Also in Portuguese.