Dia de los Muertos in Palm Beach County Moves to Nov. 7 at a Smaller West Palm Beach Venue After a State Budget Cut

Palm Beach County's biggest annual Dia de los Muertos celebration will happen a week late and in a smaller venue this year. The holiday honoring ancestors starts Nov. 1, but the popular event that usually filled the downtown streets of Lake Worth Beach that day will instead be held Nov. 7 at The Peach Art Collective, at Georgia Avenue and Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Post reported on Oct. 31. The downsizing followed an unexpected state budget cut: state lawmakers this summer cut funding that paid for the celebration, which was backed or run in part by a Lake Worth Beach government agency and its artistic nonprofit partner, according to the Post.

This year's festival is free and starts at 3 p.m. at The Peach, the Post reported. It will keep the traditions the event is known for — skeleton face painting for children and ofrendas, or altars, where attendees can submit offerings for deceased loved ones — along with a DJ and live music by singer Liz Ramirez, who will play tunes by the 1990s Tejano performer Selena. Organizer Jose Mendez told the Post he has applied for a grant from the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County and will fundraise through the end of the festival to raise the estimated $4,000 this year's scaled-back event needs.

Mendez told the Post the Nov. 3 election could transform how the celebration is funded from here on. If at least 60 percent of voters statewide pass Amendment 3, which would raise homeowners' homestead property tax exemptions to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, the main source of money for the event will likely dry up, he said. The Post also reported that attendance dropped at the 2025 festival. Mendez said he plans to bring the celebration back to Lake Worth Beach in 2027.