Attendees take part in Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade as it makes its way toward Hidalgo Park in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 .
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Vivian Silerio, 12, writes a note to her late grandfather alongside members of her family during Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade and festival in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Vivian Silerio, 12, writes a note to her late grandfather alongside members of her family during Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade and festival in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Classic cars are parked during Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade and festival near Hidalgo Park in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia poses for a photo with two attendees dressed as Catrinas during Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade and festival in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
A danza group performs during Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade and festival in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Attendees take part in Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade as it makes its way toward Hidalgo Park in Houston, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 .
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Classic cars take part in Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade as it makes its way toward Hidalgo Park in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Classic cars take part in Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade as it makes its way toward Hidalgo Park in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Classic cars take part in Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade as it makes its way toward Hidalgo Park in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Houston’s Día de los Muertos festivities kicked off Saturday morning in Hidalgo Park, as children sipped agua fresca and lined up to don skeleton face paint.
A week and a day before the holiday itself, Magnolia Park hosted the event, with marigold-strewn ofrendas, twirling Catrinas, a parade and festival.
But as visitors strolled along Buffalo Bayou, vendors and workers couldn’t help but notice how much emptier the festival felt than in years past.
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“When I come at this time, usually you can’t even walk through these walkways, and typically you can’t even find anywhere to sit down,” East End resident Maribel Maldonado said, gesturing to the half-empty benches along the park’s walkways. “This is the lowest turnout that I’ve seen in years.”
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In 2024, she said, the tents stretched for more than two blocks through the park, past the statue of Mexican independence leader Miguel Hidalgo and onto the adjacent baseball field. On Saturday, the diamond sat undisturbed.
A danza group performs during Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade and festival in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has ramped up enforcement in Houston and across the country. Three months ago, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo outside a barbershop on Canal Street, less than a mile south of the festival grounds.
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Salgado had been a friendly fixture of the neighborhood. So has the festival, which has packed Hidalgo Park every October since 2013.
Maldonado — who was buying a wide-eyed, cartoon-style painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe — blamed ICE for the low attendance, saying fear of the agency had kept residents in their homes, isolated from the holiday. She wasn’t alone in that assessment.
The local artist from whom Maldonado bought her painting, Maribel Quintanar, said that in her decade of selling her paintings she had never seen the festival so empty.
“I feel like the fear is preventing people from experiencing our Hispanic community, our culture,” Quintanar lamented. ” These are hard-working people being hurt. It’s such a shame.”
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Still, there was a party being thrown on Saturday, with singers belting ranchera music and Ella Langely covers through the speakers. Quintanar was adding purple brush strokes to a Frida Kahlo portrait. “Frida was very colorful,” she explained.
Among those milling about was Elizabeth Huerta, who had woken up at 5 a.m. to put on a head-to-toe Catrina outfit, with her face painted white as a skeleton and purple jewels encircling her eyes. Huerta said she began work in January on her flowing black dress and a floral hat the size of a large pizza, adorned with skulls.
Elizabeth Huerta is photographed dressed as a Catrina during Magnolia Park’s annual Día de los Muertos parade and festival in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
“I do it to keep the culture going, especially for the kids,” Huerta said. “Children need the visual. They need to see our community, family, friends. That’s what’s important.”
Sitting on his three-wheeled motorcycle, or slingshot, with his daughter, Hernan Rios had also come to the festival to delight children. The vehicle had been wrapped to look like Lightning McQueen — fire-engine red, with lightning bolt decals to match.
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Rios had ridden in the parade, and his ride was drawing a steady stream of attention from admiring children while he chatted. Even as Rios celebrated, he too was preoccupied by federal agents.
“I don’t like what’s happening around Houston, Dallas, around the country, with the ICE,” he said. “We prefer bringing joy, you know. We want everybody to come here and enjoy.”