Dia de los Muertos at the MACC: Altars and Workshops

Austin's Dia de los Muertos season is already underway at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, and the main event is just around the corner. The center's 19th annual celebration lands on Sunday, November 1, from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. at 600 River St., and it's built to be family-friendly: free admission, no alcohol, and plenty for all ages. It's the centerpiece of the MACC's Latine Heritage Month programming, which ran from mid-September through mid-October.

If you can't wait until the festival day, the altars are already up. The community altars exhibition runs from October 19 through November 7, with pieces from Austin residents and groups honoring family, public figures and community causes. Among them are altars for Uvalde students, ICE victims and local figures like Dr. Gilberto Cardenas. There's also a collective outdoor ofrenda tucked under the stairs at Gate 4 on the first floor, where anyone can add names, notes, photos or small artworks. If you'd rather make something than just look, the workshops are the real draw. The MACC Education Department and the Caminos Teen Leadership Program run free face painting with skull designs and sugar skull decorating, and there's a cempasúchil flower crown workshop on the second floor led by Erica Sanchez. Over at La Cocina on the first floor, Karla of Bubbles and Buttercream gives a pan de muerto demonstration, and artist Laura Yohualtlahuiz leads a Nochipa Tapete y Pirámide Azteca session in the dance studio.

The afternoon fills up fast. Teatro Sin Fronteras puts on Xochimiquiztli, a 30-minute multilingual play performed in English and Nahuatl at 2:00 and in Spanish and Nahuatl at 4:00. Samantha Ledesma Montenegro hosts the Catrina contest, and the Zocalo plaza stage keeps moving with Cinco Doce, Miguel St. Michael, Compa AK, Ballet Folklorico Maricruz and Danza Azteca Guadalupana. A vendor market and food court bring in local food and artisans, with a round of Lotería hosted by Univision. Latinos in Architecture has an installation called Las Piñatas ATX, and Franklin Mendez's exhibition Land of the Free, Home of the Brave documents local veterans from 1776 to 2026.

A few practical notes before you go. The MACC reopened on June 6 and is in the middle of its second phase of expansion and renovation, so the building itself is worth a look. Parking is free in the Holly Street neighborhood, about a five-to-ten-minute walk crossing under I-35, with accessible parking available at the MACC lot by request. The center's normal hours are Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with expanded hours on program days. And if you're registered to vote, the MACC serves as a polling place on November 3. Much of the hands-on work is carried by the Caminos Teen Leadership Program, a paid 10-month internship for Austin teens aged 16 to 18 that's been running since 2017 and will hit its tenth anniversary in 2027. The current class began its stage during the Viva Mexico celebration back on September 12, and graduates earn the title of Ambassador of Latinx Arts & Culture. Applications for the 2027 class are closed, so the next round won't open until spring.