Photos: Día de los Muertos in San Francisco’s Mission District

Thousands of people gathered to celebrate Día de los Muertos in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District on Saturday. The two-day holiday marks a time when the dead are believed to return to the world of the living.

At Potrero del Sol Park, the Marigold Project’s Festival of Altars was a focal point, with altars of all sizes scattered across the park’s mounds. Hundreds of people walked around them, sharing stories of their lost loved ones and admiring the many ofrendas, cempasuchiles, and photographs created by artists and residents in their memory.

Among those honoring loved ones, Magaly Valladares, 54, arrived from the Tenderloin early in the morning to set up her altar in memory of her parents and in-laws—a small table with portraits and pan de muerto, which she shared with visiting children. “For more than five years I have come here to make my altar,” said Valladares, who is originally from Yucatan but has lived in San Francisco for 24 years. “It’s nice to make them feel like they haven’t been forgotten and that they get to enjoy this beautiful moment too.”

The event, she shared, has become a place of connection. Not all participants were raised with spiritual or cultural connections to the holiday, but creating altars gives everyone the opportunity to share and process grief. “Here we meet other people and get to know their stories,” Valladares said. “We’re not alone in this.”

After sunset, many made their way from the park to 22nd and Bryant Street to join the Colectivo del Rescate Cultural’s annual procession through the Mission District. Guided by Azteca dancers performing ritual dances, flag bearers, and Catrinas wearing elaborate gowns, thousands of people walked toward 24th Street, many holding candles and pictures of departed loved ones.

Trina Lopez, who has been part of the procession since 1998, returned to the Mission District from her new neighborhood to join the celebration. “I’m from southern Arizona, and I have a Mexican background, and we never had anything like this in Tucson,” she said. “It felt meaningful to be grounded in my culture and in the place where I moved.”

This year, in addition to painting her face to look like a skull, Lopez wore a keffiyeh to honor lives lost in Gaza. “It means I can bring them with me in a space where they can be celebrated,” she said. “That’s really important to me this year.”

The evening procession brought together people of all ages and backgrounds. Standing on cars, balconies, and each other’s shoulders, wearing face paint and flowers in their hair, community members from across San Francisco gathered around 24th Street to watch the dancers and Catrinas walk by, as the scent of burning sage filled the air.

“I think my favorite thing is really seeing the diversity of people who come out, both culturally and age-wise, and just to see people accept death as a part of life and accept it with celebration,” said Lopez. “There are thousands of us here, but there are probably many thousands more in spirit.”

Below is a selection of photographs captured by El Tecolote contributors Karem Rodriguez and Jeremy Word, as well as staff photojournalist Pablo Unzueta.