Last Year's Día de los Muertos Parade Route Is a Construction Site Now. This Year It Ends at 24th and L.

"We want all kinds of groups to come together to create something beautiful, especially at a time when community unity is so valuable." That's how the organizers of the 2025 Día de los Muertos parade on South 24th Street described their goal to Hola Nebraska last October. At the time, the parade had no official sponsors. Local residents put it together.

A year later the parade has an organizational presenter, a new date and a new route. The blocks it ran on in 2025 are now behind construction fencing. The group presenting the parade, the Latino Economic Development Council, is also the group behind what's being built on those blocks. So the biggest celebration on the corridor and its biggest construction project now come from the same organization and sit side by side on the same street. That shapes how Saturday, October 24 will work.

Same street, a different parade

Here are the two years side by side.

The 2025 details come from Hola Nebraska's preview, which said the main procession would run 5 to 6 p.m. even though the permit covered 4 to 7. Omaha Public Works also posted a planned closure for that afternoon: M Street between 23rd and 24th, and 24th Street from M to O, from 4 to 7 p.m. The 2026 details come from the event listing, which calls this year's event the "Día de los Muertos Community Parade & Ofrenda." Casa de la Cultura's registration page gives the same start and end points and a 4 p.m. lineup.

One thing stays the same. The 2025 closure included M Street between 23rd and 24th, and the 2026 route starts at 23rd and M. The change happens at 24th Street. Last year the parade headed toward O. This year it ends at L.

What happened to the blocks between M and O

On June 29, 2026, crews started building the $25 million Plaza de la Raza on the west side of South 24th Street between M and O. Nebraska Public Media reported the project is expected to open in fall 2027. Grow Omaha reported in early July that a former parking lot there had been fenced off for the work.

The plaza is part of LEDC's Adelante Initiative. LEDC calls the initiative "a bold, community-driven vision to revitalize South Omaha's cultural and economic heart, centered around the South 24th Street Business District." It says Phase One will turn the parking lot at 24th and N into a public park for performance, play and connection. LEDC also says the plaza is meant to support Latino-owned businesses and bring visitors to the historic corridor. In other words, the same organization is presenting this year's parade and building a park designed in part for public gatherings, on the blocks where last year's parade ran.

The organizers haven't published a reason for the route change. The event pages give the new route but don't mention the construction. So treat the overlap as a fact about the map, not a confirmed explanation. Either way, the M-to-O stretch is now an active work site, and the 2026 parade is routed around it.

Getting there while the fence is up

The plaza work has already changed how people get around near 24th and N. In mid-July, KETV reported that fencing around the site blocked the sidewalk and a bus stop, and that nearby businesses and nonprofits said they got little or no notice. The contractor later pulled the fence back at 24th and N, though KETV reported the other sides stayed the same at the time. That report is from July, so conditions may have changed by late October.

For parade evening, this is what the project's own guidance says:

1. Free parking at 23rd and N. The Plaza de la Raza FAQ says the City of Omaha runs a temporary free lot there for business owners, commuters and visitors during construction.
2. Limited parking on 24th near the plaza. Street parking is still available, but the same FAQ says there's less of it near the site.
3. Businesses stay open. The project says businesses and organizations on 24th Street will stay open and accessible throughout construction.
4. Possible garage work at the lot. The FAQ says a parking garage of about 300 spaces will go up at 23rd and N, and that streetscape and garage construction start in fall 2026 and finish in fall 2027. The timeline at the top of the same page lists the garage start as winter 2026, so the exact start date isn't settled. City Councilman Ron Hug told KETV the garage could cause more backups in the business district. No source confirms whether the temporary lot will still be fully open on October 24, so check the project's updates page that week.
5. Street closures. As of October 4, Omaha Public Works hadn't posted a closure notice for the October 24 parade. Last year's notice went up the day before the event, so check the city's road closures page on Friday, October 23.

The 23rd and N lot is one block east of 24th and a short walk from the lineup at 23rd and M. If it's open that day, it's the most convenient place to park for this year's route.

Bringing something for the ofrenda

New this year is a community ofrenda. The listing invites people to bring photos or meaningful offerings to honor loved ones. It also announces a Catrina & Catrín competition for costumes and makeup, with details and prizes "to be announced soon." As of early October, the pages don't say where the ofrenda will be set up or how the contest will be judged. If you plan to bring framed photos or enter in costume, keep an eye on the listing and on Casa de la Cultura's page.

Individuals, families, organizations, performers and decorated vehicles can all join the parade, and registration goes through culturaomaha.org. One heads-up: Casa de la Cultura's page lists October 24 in its date field, but its invitation text says "October 26th." The LEDC listing says October 24, so go by that date.

Before the lineup or after the last float

Several of the places best set up for parade evening are on the 24th Street blocks closest to the plaza fence. Their Visit Omaha listings show customer reviews from 2026:

• International Bakery, 5106 S. 24th St., known for fresh pastries, breads and cakes. Latest listed review is from July 2026.
• El Dorado, 5134 S. 24th St. Latest listed review is from July 2026.
• Taqueria Tijuana, 5139 S. 24th St. Latest listed review is from September 2026.
• El Alamo, 4917 S. 24th St. Latest listed review is from April 2026.
• La Choza Restaurant, a block over at 5133 S. 25th St. Latest listed review is from February 2026.

Hours can change around a big event, so call ahead if you're counting on a table between 4 and 6.

International Bakery is also part of the corridor's longer-term plans. Its owners bought the former Joe Tess Place at 5424 S. 24th St. in 2025 and plan to move the bakery there from 5106. Grow Omaha's June 2026 update described that move as still in the feasibility stage, with studies in the second half of 2026 and results expected in 2027. So the bakery is at its current address for this year's parade. Next door at 5110 S. 24th St., in the former Home Café, Packer's Building Café was announced in January 2026 as "coming soon." No opening has been confirmed since.

El Museo Latino on the same weekend

If you'd like more Día de los Muertos season than one evening's parade, El Museo Latino at 4701 S. 25th St. is close by. Its collective photography exhibit, TAJIMAL K'IN: La Fiesta del Sol / Festival of the Sun, has been extended through December 19, 2026, so it will still be up on parade weekend. ARTELATINX 2026, a show coordinated by UNO's Office of Latino/Latin American Studies, closes earlier, on October 16. To see both, go before the parade.

The 2026 parade lines up at 4 p.m. at 23rd and M and ends at 24th and L, next to the fenced site where LEDC plans to open a public plaza in fall 2027.

If you have questions about the construction around 24th and N, the parking plan or anything else changing on the corridor, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate The Good Life Group keeps up with South Omaha and can give you a straight answer. Contact a Good Life Group agent anytime. We're happy to help, even if a move isn't on your calendar.