Scottsdale Dia de los Muertos at Civic Center: The Old Town Group Guide

Ten Years of Color at Scottsdale Civic Center

On Saturday, October 24, 2026, Scottsdale Civic Center fills with marigolds, monumental altars and folklorico from 1:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. — and admission is free.

This is the tenth anniversary of the Scottsdale Día de los Muertos festival, and the milestone year comes with a headliner to match: GRAMMY-nominated artist Lupita Infante takes the stage at 8:00 p.m.

Nine hours is a long, beautiful day. It is also exactly the kind of event that punishes anyone who has to think about parking.

What to Expect on the Grounds

The festival runs at 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd. in the heart of Old Town, and the programming is genuinely dense.

Large-scale art installations and community altars fill the outdoor spaces — and those are open even longer than the festival itself, running October 22 through 25 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Live music plays throughout the afternoon and evening, building toward the 8 p.m. headline set. Indigenous and modern folklorico dancers perform between sets.

The Catrina Fashion Contest is the visual centerpiece, with categories for individuals, couples, families — and dogs. If your group is committing to the look, this is the reason to go all in.

Food, arts and crafts vendors line the grounds, so nobody needs to leave and re-enter to eat.

The Old Town Parking Reality

Old Town Scottsdale on a Saturday is already the busiest square mile in the Valley. Add a free ten-year-anniversary festival and the math gets ugly.

The Civic Center garages and the surface lots along Drinkwater and 2nd Street saturate early in the afternoon — well before the evening crowd arrives for the headliner.

Groups that drive separately end up scattered across three garages, arriving at different times, and leaving at different times. The day gets chopped into logistics.

A private coach collapses all of that into one decision. Everyone leaves together, arrives together at the curb, and the vehicle is waiting when Lupita Infante finishes.

Building the Full Day

The festival's 1 p.m. start and 10 p.m. finish leaves room on both ends, and Old Town is built for it.

Arrive early and walk the altars while the art installations are quiet — the 8 a.m. opening on the installation days means you can see them without the crowd.

Break mid-afternoon for a proper lunch in Old Town, then return for the evening music block when the Civic Center lights come up and the Catrina looks are at their peak.

When the festival closes at 10 p.m., Old Town's nightlife district is a two-minute drive away. Plenty of groups keep the night going — which is far easier when no one has been counting drinks against a drive home.

Who Books This One

• Multigenerational family groups — the altars and folklorico make this meaningful across every age at the table.
• Friend groups going all-in on Catrina looks — elaborate face paint and formalwear do not survive a cramped back seat or a long garage walk.
• Birthday and milestone celebrations — a free festival plus a private coach is a genuinely elegant way to build a day.
• Visiting groups — one of the most distinctive cultural events on the Arizona calendar, and Old Town is the right basecamp.

Arrive the Way the Day Deserves

Jacob Transportation serves Scottsdale with a luxury fleet — party buses for larger parties, executive sprinters and limousines for smaller ones.

Hourly charters begin from $150 per hour. Point-to-point transfers start from $500, and all-day reservations start from $2,000 — a sensible fit for a festival that runs nine hours.

Your chauffeur knows the Civic Center drop-off points and how Old Town's streets move on an event Saturday, so your group steps out at the entrance rather than six blocks from it.

October 24 falls on one of the busiest weekends of the Scottsdale season. Vehicles for that date go early.

Call (602) 866-7777 or send a booking inquiry to lock in your ride. Serving Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and the entire Valley.