Dia de los Muertos 2025

20 Houston Dia de los Muertos celebrations with music, food, and more

Discovery Green's Dia de los Muertos celebration takes place this Sunday, November 2.

Courtesy of Discovery Green

Houstonians have myriad Halloween offerings to celebrate that spooky night. But many people are also psyched about Dia de los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead, where Houstonians honor their loved ones that are no longer with us. But it’s also a time to celebrate Latin culture, enjoy live music and dancing, and snack on some pan de muerto (translation: bread of the dead).

Here’s a rundown of Dia de los Muertos-related events happening all over the city this weekend:

Friday

Over at Trebly Park, enjoy a free outdoor screening of Coco under the stars. You can also enjoy pre-movie fun with character meet-and-greets, free face painting, popcorn, and candy. 6 pm.

Saturday

Azteca’s Farmer’s Market will celebrate Dia de los Muertos with ballet folklorico dancers, music, a fashion show, art displays and much more. The ofrenda will be open for all to see and you can bring a photo of your loved ones to place on the altars. Noon.

Casa Ramirez FOLKART Gallery will have a procession and reception, honoring the departed with respect, warmth, ceremony, art, performance and a touch of humor. Traditional refreshments, including tamales and pan de muerto, will be served. 5:30 pm.

Children’s Museum Houston will be transformed into a Land of the Dead. Step into a celebration bursting with vibrant marigolds, dazzling sugar skulls, and meaningful traditions. Experience Mexican culture through storytelling and dance that bring Día de los Muertos to life. 9 am.

Over at City Place, enjoy live music, special photo moments, an Azteca indigenous dance performance, along with other pop-up craft activations. Stroll through a curated Día de los Muertos mercado, contribute to a 360 community altar, and more surprises. 2 pm.

FR33DOM will host “NEON DE LOS MUERTOS TRIFECTA,” the third annual Day of the Dead EDM celebration. They will have over 10 vendors with arts, crafts, ravewear, food, drinks, sugar skull face painters, and three warehouses with different music and immersive art. 8 pm.

Multicultural Education & Counseling through the Arts (MECA) will have its two-day Día de Muertos Festival. From Danza Azteca Macuixochitl, Duo Menil, Los Regioñarios to Vanessa y Banda La Garita, Danza Folklorico de Solei, the lineup is packed with incredible performances celebrating culture and community. 11 am.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will have a punch party at Rienzi. Explore the grounds and the art collection while enjoying a time-honored blend of spirits, citrus, sugar, and spices. Masquerade attire and Día de los Muertos makeup are encouraged. 6:30 pm.

Numbers’ Underworld Monthly Bash will salute Dia de Los Muertos with the Women of the Underworld: DJ Cyberina Flux, DJ Pthalo, and DJ Mina. Cover is $10 (over 21) and $15 (under 21). $5 off if you come in your Dia de los Muertos best creation. 9 pm.

St. Bernard’s Pub will celebrate with a Dia de los Muertos/Halloween show featuring live performances from The Skatastrophics, Palookas, Dubtrine, and DJ Bobbydust. Costumes are welcome, of course. 8 pm.

Under the Volcano’s Day of the Dead shindig will feature DJ Felipe Galván spinning a mix of cumbia, reggae, mambo, jump blues, ska, rockabilly, soul, & punk. Enjoy delicious pan de muertos while honoring this special tradition. 6 pm.

Verde Garden will be celebrating all weekend long with face painting, folklorico dancers, live mariachi performances, live DJs, festive photo opportunities, food and drink specials, and more. There will also be a market, a mechanical bull and flower bouquet-making. 7 pm.

The Westin at the Woodlands’ Como Social Club will have a party with refined shareables —mini quesadillas, salsa y escabeche, and guacamole con chicharrones—alongside crafted cocktails. Raise a glass to recuerdos, sabor, and good company. 8 pm.

Wonky Power will honor the spirits through a free night of goth, darkwave, rock en español, and cumbia sounds that move between worlds. The late-night market will feature art, fashion, and local vendors — all under the glow of the altar. 8 pm.

Sunday

Axelrad will have a free Dia De Los Muertos tribute on its new festival stage, with live sets from Los Skarnales, King Baby, Indaskies, & Phil Lerma. There will be food trucks and plenty of live vendors, courtesy of Tulip’s Market. 1 pm.

Discovery Green begins its celebration with a procession led by Danza Azteca Macuilxochitl, followed by the Catrín y Catrinas Parade. At sunset, there will be a concert by the Segundo Barrio Children’s Chorus and a tribute concert curated by Nick Gaitan. 3 pm.

Forest Park Lawndale will have an afternoon filled with tradition, culture, and celebration. We’re talking about folklorico dancers, a Selena tribute, food & merchandise vendors, music, raffles, lotería & much more. Noon.

Historic Hollywood Cemetery will have a community celebration with a community ofrenda, live music, food and drinks, a vendor market, and family activities. You can also explore the historic property and learn about the cemetery’s history. 10 am.

Karbach Brewing Co. will have a full day of music, dance, and tradition. The day will include a Catrina fashion show, ballet folklórico, a car show featuring lowriders & classic rides, and exclusive event glassware (available while supplies last). 11 am.

Tago will welcome Caférreo for a celebration of coffee, music, and Latin culture. They will also host the Don Julio Truck at 2 pm, where guests can enjoy handcrafted Don Julio cocktails, festive photo moments, and half-off all Don Julio cocktails. 11 am.

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Movie Review

Glen Powell stumbles in remake of sci-fi classic The Running Man

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Glen Powell in The Running Man.

For all its cheesy ‘80s greatness, the original version of The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was a very loose adaptation of the novel by Stephen King. For the new remake, writer/director Edgar Wright has tried to hue much closer to the story laid out in the book, a decision that has both its positive and negative aspects.

Glen Powell takes over for Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards, a family man/hothead who can’t seem to hold a job in the dystopian America in which he lives. Desperate to take care of his family, he applies to be on one of the many game shows fed to the masses that promise riches in exchange for humiliation or worse. Thanks to his temper, Ben is chosen for the most popular one of all, The Running Man, in which contestants must survive 30 days while hunters, as well as the general population, track them down.

Given a 12-hour head start, Ben earns money for every day he survives, as well as every hunter he eliminates. Since he only has a relatively small amount of money to use as he pleases, Ben must rely on friendly citizens who are willing to put their own lives on the line to help him. That’s a task made even more difficult as the gamemakers, led by Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), use advanced AI to manipulate footage of Ben to make him seem like a guy for which no one should root.

Co-written by Michael Bacall, the film is shockingly uninteresting, working neither as an exciting action film, a fun quippy comedy, or social commentary. The biggest problem is that Wright seems to have no interest in developing any of his characters, starting with Ben. Our introduction to the protagonist is him trying to get his job back, a situation for which there is little context even after we’re beaten over the head with exposition.

The situation in which Ben finds himself should be easy to make sympathetic, but Wright and Bacall speed through scenes that might have emphasized that aspect in favor of ones that make the story less personal. The filmmakers really want to showcase the supposed antagonistic relationship between Ben and Dan (and the system which Dan represents), but all that effort results in little drama.

Ben has a number of close calls, and while those scenes are full of action and violence, almost every one of them feels emotionally inert, as if there was nothing at stake. It doesn’t help that Wright doesn’t set the scene well, making it unclear how far Ben has traveled or who/what he’s up against. There are times when Ben feels surrounded and others when he can walk freely, weird for a society that’s supposed to be under almost complete surveillance.

Powell has been touted as a movie star in the making for several years following his turn in Top Gun: Maverick, but he does little here to make that label stick. With no consistent co-star thanks to the structure of the story, he’s required to carry the film, and he just doesn’t have the juice that a true movie star is supposed to have. Nobody else is served well by the scattershot film, including normally reliable people like Brolin, Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, and Lee Pace.

The Running Man is a big misfire by Wright and a blow to Powell’s star power. On the surface, it has all the hallmarks of an action thriller with a side of social commentary, but nothing it does or says lands in any meaningful way. Schwarzenegger’s one-liners in the original film may have been goofy and over-the-top, but at least they made the movie memorable, which is way more than can be said of the remake.

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The Running Man opens in theaters on November 14.

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