Get ready for a full day of entertainment and then some at Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival this coming weekend in downtown.
Austin-based Grupo Fantasma will be the festival’s headlining band, performing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the fest’s main stage, at Industrial and Mulberry streets.
The nine-piece Latin funk and cumbia group won a Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album for its 2010 album El Existential.
Festivalgoers can also plan to cheer on competitors in the festival’s hallmark coffin races as they go down East Hickory Street, see — or take part in — creative costume contests, take in a day of music and entertainment, snag tickets for the variety show-style musical Cirque du Horror and march in the Twilight Lantern Parade.
The festival returned last year after a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Festival creative director David Pierce said it’s hard to keep track of the attendance since admission is free.
“We don’t ticket people, so it’s hard to get a head count,” he said in an email. “We always guesstimate about 15,000-20,000 for Saturday throughout the day.”
Weather always plays a huge part in turnout, Pierce said, and they never know what fall weather will be like in Denton. Last year’s festival was drizzly and overcast, but Pierce said they still had a great crowd.
Denton is expected to have scattered showers and thunderstorms during this weekend’s festivities.
Pierce said there will be 60 coffin race entries in Saturday’s races and about 30 contestants in the pinebox derby on Friday night.
Denton’s original musical production Cirque du Horror, created and composed by Pierce, will be back in the big top tent at 126 E. Oak St. this year.
There will be four performances of Cirque du Horror on Friday through Sunday, with viewers needing to purchase tickets to attend. The family-friendly musical features an aging, gassy vampire emcee named Grampula, aerial acts, a strongman who’s afraid of pumpkins, lots of singing and dancing and local musicians and performers.
“We are always so excited to work on this labor of love, to bring some happiness to our beloved community,” Pierce said. “We hope it helps to make Denton a destination for out-of-town travelers.”
Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival
What: A free multicultural festival for families that celebrates the hallmarks of autumn in the American Southwest — the harvest, Halloween and Día de los Muertos
When: The main festival is 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Select events are on Friday and Sunday.
Where: Industrial, East Hickory and East Oak streets in downtown Denton
Details: Games and activities in the Pumpkin Patch, vendors, live music, Coffin Faces, Twilight Lantern Parade. Admission is free; however, tickets are required for Cirque du Horror. For more information, visit www.dentondayofthedeadfestival.com.
FRIDAY, OCT. 27
5 p.m. — Pinebox derby registration
6 p.m. — Pinebox derby at Elks Lodge, 228 E. Oak St.
7:30 p.m. — Cirque du Horror at the Big Top Circus Tent, 126 E. Oak St.
SATURDAY, OCT. 28
11 a.m. — Festival opens
11 a.m. — Pumpkin Patch at the Field of Screams, 126 E. Oak St.
Noon — Coffin Races on East Hickory Street
2:30 p.m. — Flight of Souls at the Main Stage
4 p.m. — Cirque du Horror at the Big Top Circus Tent, 126 E. Oak St.
4 p.m. — Coffin Race awards
5:15 p.m. — Costume Contest at the Main Stage
6 p.m. — Parade lineup
7 p.m. — Twilight Lantern Parade
9 p.m. — Cirque du Horror at the Big Top Circus Tent
MAIN STAGE
At Industrial and Mulberry streets
11 a.m. — The Pan Tones
12:15 p.m. — A Taste of Herb
1:30 p.m. — Le Not So Hot Klub
2:30 p.m. — Denton's Day of the Dead Fest: Flight of Souls
3 p.m. — El Chanclazo
4:15 p.m. — Bubba Hernandez
5:15 p.m. — Denton’s Day of the Dead Fest: Costume Contest
7:30 p.m. — Grupo Fantasma
PUMPKIN PATCH STAGE
126 E. Oak St.
11 a.m., 12:45 p.m., 1:45 p.m. — Lorena & Juan puppet show
11:30 a.m. — Moonlight Flow Collective
Noon — Denton ISD Mariachis
1:15 p.m., 2:15 p.m. — Moonlight Flow Collective
2:45 p.m., 4:45 p.m. — Lorenzo & Catrina marionettes
3:30 p.m. — Denton K-2 Ballet Folklorico
4:15 p.m., 5:45 p.m. — Story Time: The Rolling Pumpkin
5:15 p.m. — Story Time: Aunt Misey & Death
6 p.m. — Pumpkin Patch closes
LUCKY LOU’S SPONSORED DANCE STAGE
At Oak and Austin streets. Performances start at 2 p.m.
- Nette Schultz Folklorico Group
- Cholo Rock
- RHS Strutters
- Denton Dance Convservatory/Denton City Contemporary
- Featured student artists and alumni from Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts
- Anastasia Flores Folklorico Ballet
SUNDAY, OCT. 29
5:30 p.m. — Cirque du Horror at the Big Top Circus Tent, 126 E. Oak St.