Día de Muertos in Medford 2026: Altars and the Nov. 7 Festival

Last November, one of Medford's best-known Día de Muertos evenings took place in the North Medford High School Auditorium. Ballet Folklorico Ritmo Alegre's Colores de Ofrenda was a ticketed gala on Saturday, November 8, 2025. Doors opened at 4 p.m., and dance, music and art ran from 5 to 7:30.

This year the main celebration moves to Pear Blossom Park downtown, and it's free. It lands on Saturday, November 7, 2026, a week after the holiday. By then the season will have been building for more than a month, starting with family photos on a library table and stopping at a memorial park on November 1. Reading the season as one long run that ends on November 7 changes when you'll want to print a photo, bring the kids and save an afternoon.

Why the calendar runs late this year

Día de Muertos is traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2. In 2026, November 1 falls on a Sunday. The biggest public gathering, the Pear Blossom Park festival, is set for the following Saturday, November 7.

The altars go up first, the memorial-park celebration falls on the holiday itself, and the festival comes last. Here is the schedule as it stands a little over two weeks out.

The season starts with a photo on a library table

The library altar is already up. Jackson County Library Services describes the Medford Children's Day of the Dead Ofrenda this way: "Leading up to Day of the Dead, the Medford Children's Department will set up a table and additional writing materials for families to bring photos and celebrate loved ones who have passed on." It sits in the Storytime Room at the Medford Library on South Central Avenue. The library calendar gives October 1 as the start date. A regional events calendar lists the altar through 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, so plan to have your photo there by that weekend.

For a family, this is the low-pressure way in. You don't need a ticket or a program, just a printed photo and a few written words about the person you're remembering. A child who adds a grandparent's picture in October will likely connect more with the dancing in November.

Two nearby branches run longer. The White City Library's Community Ofrenda program is Thursday, October 22, from 3 to 4 p.m. The Central Point Library's altar also stays up through November 3. If you miss the Medford window, either branch gives you two extra days.

If your ofrenda at home needs pan de muerto, Panadería Del Pueblo at 523 S Central Ave lists it among its Mexican baked goods. That's a short walk down the same street from the library. Seasonal baking varies, so call ahead before you go.

On the holiday itself, a memorial park opens its grounds

Perl Funeral Home & Siskiyou Memorial Park lists a 2026 Día de los Muertos Celebration for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at 2100 Siskiyou Blvd. The listing mentions games, contests, free food, crafts and an ofrenda.

A memorial park is a natural setting for a tradition centered on visiting and honoring those who have died. The event also covers the one day the Pear Blossom Park festival can't, the holiday itself. Families who keep November 1 as their day of remembrance have somewhere public to gather that afternoon. This is an events-site listing, so check the funeral home's own channels for any time changes before you head over.

November 7 is the big one, and it's free

Calli Casa de Culturas, a Medford cultural nonprofit led by executive director Yanneli De La Torre, is presenting what it calls its first Día de Muertos Festival at Pear Blossom Park on Saturday, November 7. Calli Casa's site describes the organization as a home for people of all generations to celebrate heritage, culture, creativity and belonging through community, education and the arts.

Its bilingual save-the-date, posted on AllEvents, opens in Spanish:

"Calli Casa de Culturas se enorgullece en presentar nuestro primer Festival de Día de Muertos, una celebración comunitaria gratuita para honrar a nuestros antepasados, nuestras tradiciones y la riqueza cultural del Día de Muertos."

In English, the announcement promises "a day filled with music, dance, art, food, cultural traditions, family activities, and community." It calls the festival a free family event, with all ages welcome. Calli Casa says the full program will be announced soon, so performers and vendors are still to be confirmed.

The City of Medford is helping pay for it. In its August 2026 grant announcement, the City Council listed $10,000 for Calli Casa de Culturas to support "a free, community-wide Día de los Muertos celebration." It was part of a $1 million round that also funded swim scholarships, water safety programs and a firefighter memorial. That puts the festival on the city's list of funded community programs this year.

Ballet Folklorico Ritmo Alegre, the troupe behind last year's auditorium gala, lists its own first annual Fiesta Día de Muertos at Pear Blossom Park that same Saturday, from 1 to 7 p.m. The Oregon Cultural Trust describes Ritmo Alegre as a Medford-based Mexican folk dance troupe whose mission is to empower youth through dance and serve as cultural ambassadors. Its repertoire covers dances from more than 15 Mexican states. According to Milagro, the troupe started as a South Medford High School club and grew into a community program.

The two organizations have each posted their own listing for the park that afternoon. Watch both pages as the program comes together.

The shift from 2025 comes down to a few concrete details. Last year's best-known evening asked for a ticket, a seat in an auditorium and a 4 p.m. arrival. This year, Ritmo Alegre's listing has the main event running six hours on a Saturday afternoon in a downtown park, and Calli Casa calls its festival free. Ritmo Alegre's page offers an RSVP, so it's worth checking both listings closer to the date in case you need to sign up ahead of time.

Planning the five weeks

Seen together, the dates give a family a clear order:

• By the weekend of Nov. 1: bring a printed photo to the Medford Library children's ofrenda on South Central Avenue. Central Point and White City keep theirs up through Nov. 3.
• Thursday, Oct. 22, 3 p.m.: the White City Library's Community Ofrenda program, if your kids would like a guided activity.
• Sunday, Nov. 1, 3:30 p.m.: the celebration at Perl Funeral Home & Siskiyou Memorial Park on Siskiyou Boulevard.
• Saturday, Nov. 7, 1 to 7 p.m.: Pear Blossom Park, 204 N Bartlett St. Check Calli Casa's and Ritmo Alegre's pages that week for the final program.

For my family and for many families I work with, Día de Muertos is about remembering where we come from and who helped us get here. If you're new to Medford and want to know where the community gathers through the year, or you'd like to talk in English or Spanish about putting down roots here, Mayra Valencia would love to hear from you. ¡Nos vemos en Pear Blossom Park! Let's Connect.