This Saturday, October 24, the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum hosts two of the day's events. In the morning it leads its 27th annual Cemetery Walk through Cypress Hill. After dark it is where the El Día de los Muertos candlelight procession ends, at 20 4th Street.
Costume paddling, a cider festival and a cover-band show at the Phoenix fill the hours in between. But the day starts and ends with remembrance, and the same institution, based at the corner of 4th and B, runs the first event and hosts the last.
10:30 a.m.: The Museum Starts the Day at Cypress Hill
The Cemetery Walk is put on by the Petalumans of Yesteryear, the museum's costumed living-history docents. This is the walk's 27th year. Docents in 19th-century dress stand beside the graves of the people they portray, including Lyman Byce, Addie Atwater and Ida Belle McNear. The Argus-Courier's spooky-season roundup says they share anecdotes and "perhaps a few secrets" about how these figures lived and died.
Groups start at 10:30 and 11 a.m. from the Cypress Hill Memorial Park office parking lot at 430 Magnolia Avenue, and the walk ends in the Cypress Hill columbarium. Tickets are $15 for members and students and $20 general, and you need a reservation through the museum's Cemetery Tour page. In mid-October the ticket listing showed only a few tickets left, so book soon if you plan to go.
The ticket listing gives a 90-minute duration, so the 11 a.m. group finishes around 12:30. That still leaves most of the afternoon for the river.
Late Morning: Witches, Wizards and Cider on the Water
Witches & Wizards on the Water is run by The Floathouse Petaluma. It goes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., starts at The Floathouse at 50 Water Street, and is free. Paddlers in costume pick up a map and a cotton bag at the Floathouse dock, then follow a Trick-or-Treat Paddle Trail where local businesses and nonprofits hand out treats. At noon, costumed participants line up on the water for the costume contest. You can bring your own boat or board or rent one from The Floathouse. Details are on the Floathouse event page.
Cider Circus runs from noon to 5 p.m. at Steamer Landing Park, also on the river. The Argus-Courier calls it Sonoma County's only festival dedicated to artisanal cider. It's organized by the founders of Big West Wine Fest, and more than 20 West Coast producers will pour, including Ambix Spirits, Goat Rock Cider, Horse & Plow, Old World Winery and Onirique Cider. A $75 ticket includes unlimited tastings, crafts and apple-themed activities, and children get in free. The paper's tip is to try the duck fat caramel apples and the hippie popcorn. Tickets are sold through Big West.
When Cider Circus ends at 5, the closing event for Día de los Muertos has already been running for an hour downtown.
How the Procession Left the Church
Petaluma's Día de los Muertos started inside St. Vincent de Paul Church. The Press Democrat's September feature describes how it became a citywide event. Organizer Gloria McCallister credits Margie Helm and Abraham Solar, St. Vincent's director of Hispanic ministry, with opening the celebration to people outside the parish beginning in 2000. "Margie and Abraham took it out of the church and into the community," McCallister told the paper.
Organizers estimated last year's attendance at about 4,000, and McCallister told the paper they are "expecting a lot more" this year. The organizing group now includes Margo Gallagher, and Nora and Tim Wilkins have joined recently. This is also the first year the group has had its own website, eldiadelosmuertospetaluma.org, which takes donations to help pay for artists, security, food and permits for the free event.
McCallister explained the sugar-paste skulls, called alfeñiques, that decorate the altars:
"They are made of sugar because our memories are sweet."
This year's celebration began weeks ago, with a health fair on October 4, an artists' reception on October 10 and a "Poetry of Remembrance" reading on October 17. Saturday's procession and closing event end the season.
6 p.m.: From Liberty Street to 4th and B
According to the organizer's events page, the closing event runs from 4 to 10 p.m. and the candlelight procession starts at 6. The Argus-Courier listing gives the route:
- Gather at St. Vincent de Paul Church Plaza, 35 Liberty Street.
- Walk toward A Street.
- Pass through the 4th Street parking lot.
- Arrive at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 4th Street.
The museum is usually open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On October 24 it stays open into the evening, so people arriving with the procession can go inside to see the main altar. The Press Democrat reported dancing, food and festivities in front of the museum. Ballet Paquiyollotzin, directed by Juan González, was formed to perform at this event and is on the program again, along with singer Mateo Guzmán.
The Phoenix Theater, at 201 Washington Street, puts on its 11th annual Halloween Covers Show at 8 p.m. Local musicians including James Ryall, Michael Weldon, Tony Ferronato and Devin McMahon will play their own versions of songs by David Bowie, the Ramones, Radiohead, KISS and others. Tickets are $12.
The Altar Stays Up After the Candles Go Out
The procession lasts one evening, but the museum's Día de los Muertos exhibition runs from October 8 to November 8. Admission is free, and donations are welcome. Israel Escudero, whom Gallagher called a "master altar maker," built this year's main altar. Gallagher told the Press Democrat that he uses his large collection of artifacts from Mexico to decorate his altars.
Anyone can add to it. "Everybody's welcome to bring a photo, or a memory of their loved ones, and put them on the altar," Gallagher told the paper. If you'd like to add a photo when the museum is less crowded, go Thursday through Sunday between 10 and 4 any week before November 8.
Other groups set up their own altars, including Petaluma Blacks for Community Development and the Petaluma River Park Foundation. The River Park Foundation is planning a 35-acre park with river access, trails and gathering spaces, and expects to finish the first phase in 2028. More altars are set up around downtown. The Press Democrat says the one near the Heebe Jeebe General Store is rumored to have a Dolly Parton theme this year.
A Week Later, Those Blocks Fill With Candy
Downtown's annual Trick or Treat Trail is on Saturday, October 31, from 3 to 5:30 p.m. More than 75 merchants will hand out candy along Kentucky Street, 4th Street, Western Avenue, Petaluma Boulevard, 2nd Street, C Street, Theatre Square and the River Plaza Shopping Center. Participating stores will have signs outside. The trail's website and downloadable pumpkin map go live on October 24, the same day as the procession.
Earlier that afternoon, the farmers market at Walnut Park, on D Street and 4th Street, holds its Little Monsters Meet-Up from 1 to 5 p.m. Kids in costume can parade through the market and trick-or-treat at the stalls, and visitors can vote for the vendor with the best costume. The trail map covers 4th Street, the same street the procession uses to reach the museum.
For more of Petaluma outside the downtown loop, see our earlier post, A Petaluma Summer, Off the Obvious Track. Our Petaluma neighborhood page covers the town's streets and housing.
At Brannan Palmer Group, we keep up with the calendars of the towns we work in, and in Petaluma that includes this Saturday at 4th and B. If you own a home near the procession route or elsewhere in town and have been thinking about what comes next, request your complimentary home valuation and we'll talk it through with you.
