Austin's October: Día de los Muertos and Halloween

Austin's October is really two celebrations running at once: Día de los Muertos and Halloween, and the city leans into both. The biggest moment is the 43rd Annual Viva La Vida Festival and Parade, Austin's longest-running Día de los Muertos event, which takes over 4th Street and Congress Avenue on Saturday, October 24. It kicks off with a Grand Procession at noon and runs until 6:00 p.m., with the Mariposa Plaza filling up with hands-on art, traditional food, local artists, a low-rider exhibition and live performances throughout the day. It's a free, family-friendly celebration put on by the city's ACME Department, and the Mexic-Arte Museum at 419 Congress Avenue is a good home base for it, as the museum also hosts its annual Day of the Dead exhibition, Die de los Muertos: Coleccionando Memorias, which runs from September 11 all the way to January 3. If you're driving in, the Frost Bank parking garage at 112 E. 4th Street is the closest spot.

Beyond the parade, the holiday stretches into November. The Fandango de los Muertos at San José Cemetery begins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 1, with a panel of historians and a documentary premiere before the cemetery is decorated with cempasúchil flowers and candles; the following night, San José II Cemetery holds a musical event with local and international artists, also starting at 7:00 p.m. At The Addison Grove, Day of the Dead by candlelight is a one-hour multisensory concert with music inspired by the holiday on Friday, November 1, with doors opening 45 minutes early and the show starting at 9:00 p.m. The AVANCE-Austin Día de los Muertos fundraiser follows on Saturday, November 2, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and over in Round Rock, the Day of the Dead Procession and Festival departs Wells Fargo at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, arriving at Centennial Plaza about 15 minutes later, with the festival itself running from noon to 8:00 p.m.

On the Halloween side, the city's scare scene is wide open. The Trail of Terror runs from Wednesday, September 19, to Monday, November 1, at The Fieldhouse at The Crossover north of Austin, while Fear Fair is going at Sign Bar from Friday, September 16, to November 1. Gibson Street Bar has its Twisted Carnival Pop-Up Bar from Wednesday, September 18, through October 31, and UNDEAD: Haunted House of Dances takes over Factory on 5th from Wednesday, October 21, to October 31. For families, Boo at the Zoo at the Austin Zoo runs on Saturdays and Sundays from October 2 to October 24, the Austin Symphony puts on its annual Halloween Children's Concert on Saturday, October 18, and Pioneer Farms Pumpkin Nights runs from Friday, September 17, to October 31. Outside the city, Scream Hollow runs south of Bastrop from September 18 to November 1, and Bat City Scaregrounds in Buda runs selected dates from September 26 to October 31.

And for the music, the weekend of October 30 and 31 belongs to Freaky Deaky Fest, a two-day festival at the Travis County Expo Center. If you'd rather stay in town, Tails From the Crypt is a Halloween Horror Tales cabaret show at Ani's Day and Night in south Austin on Monday, October 31. For something a bit more cinematic, Bass Concert Hall hosts Behind the Scream on Wednesday, October 28, a live conversation and screening of the 30th anniversary of the horror movie SCREAM with actor David Arquette.