Tulum sets three nights of Day of the Dead on Calle Centauro, with altars, catrinas and fire dancers from October 30

The first part of Tulum's Day of the Dead program is out, and it is set on a street. From Friday, October 30 to Sunday, November 1, the Paseo Tulum tourist corridor on Calle Centauro will fill with altars, catrinas, fire dancers and food from 6 to 11 p.m. each night, with the contests starting at 8. Anyone who comes dressed as a catrina or catrín will find discounts at the corridor's businesses on all three nights.

The program, called "Paseo Tulum renace con sus raíces," was set out on October 5 by Landy Aguilar, president of Paseo Tulum, who organized it with the municipality and local businesses. It is billed as part of the Tulum Renace campaign and runs from October 30 to November 3, with activities also planned in the hotel zone and at the cancha maya. When we updated our guide to the winter season in September, Tulum's 2026 Day of the Dead program had not been published. This is the first part of it.

Friday, October 30: catrinas and fire

The first night opens the festival with a fire show, the catrina and catrín contest, folk dance from students of Cecyte, the first prizes and a walk through the stands. The catrina contest is for individual entrants aged 18 to 50, and the winner takes a double pass to Casa Tortuga and restaurant vouchers.

Saturday, October 31: pets in costume

Saturday brings a contest for pets in Day of the Dead costume, with a supply of pet food for the winner, alongside more fire performances, folk dance and prizes. Across the festival, though the program does not say on which night, the Colombian group Alma Otita performs and the fire shows are by the Chac Mool dancers. There will also be an exhibition of alebrijes, the brightly painted fantastical figures, and makers who want to take part can register by WhatsApp at 984 315 7580.

Sunday, November 1: the altars

The altar contest closes the program on Sunday. Each altar has to tell a story dedicated to a person, a family or a tradition, built with the traditional elements, and the prize is 5,000 pesos in cash. The night ends with folk dance, the last prizes and the closing ceremony. There will also be a food showcase.

The tradition underneath

In Yucatán the days of the dead have their own name and their own calendar. Janal Pixán, Maya for "food of the souls," is kept over three days: October 31 for children who have died, November 1 for adults and November 2 for all souls. Families build altars with photographs, candles, water, salt, incense and the favorite foods of the people they remember, and one of the central dishes is mucbipollo, or pib, corn dough with meat and spices wrapped in banana leaf, which can be cooked underground. Preparations start days before the 31st. Yucatán declared the tradition part of its intangible cultural heritage in 2024. The Paseo Tulum altar contest, with its story for each altar, is that practice brought onto the street.

A second, separate event has also been announced. A Festival del Día de Muertos presented by CopaMex Music and Vivo en TV is due in Tulum from October 29 to November 3, with cumbia and tropical acts including Gnocidas, Sonora Matadora, Aurelio Ramos "El Novillo de Tlaxcala," Pacho López y su Cumbia Meztiza, Aldin Mata from Honduras and Jamir Mena.

What is not yet known

Some of the program is still to come. The organizers have not yet published what will happen in the hotel zone and at the cancha maya, or on November 2 and 3, or how to enter the altar contest. The CopaMex festival has not said where it will be held, what time the shows start, what tickets cost or how to buy them. And we have not found a separate municipal Janal Pixán program like last year's: in 2025 the municipality scheduled costume, catrina and altar contests from October 30 to November 2, alongside a car free walk of altars on the hotel zone road organized by hotel zone businesses. We will add the rest as it is published.

What is fixed is enough to plan an evening around: three nights on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a set time and a street, and a discount for anyone in a catrina costume. For everything else on the calendar between now and spring, see our update on Tulum's winter season dates.

Sources: La Jornada Maya, October 5, 2026; Por Esto, October 5, 2026; Clase Turista, September 19, 2026; La Jornada Maya, October 25, 2025. Main image: Israel Torres, via Pexels.