Lowriders and Altars Take Over Congress Avenue Today

Low-hanging river fog will burn off just in time for the marigolds, drumbeats, and lowriders taking over Congress Avenue by noon.

---

The Lead

Mexic-Arte Museum’s 43rd Annual Viva La Vida Festival and Parade fills downtown today, bringing Austin’s longest-running Día de los Muertos tradition back to Fourth Street and Congress Avenue. What began in the 1980s as a modest gallery gathering has grown into one of the city's signature cultural milestones, uniting multigenerational families, local artisans, and downtown neighbors. The Grand Procession steps off at noon, winding through downtown with towering paper-mâché calaveras, ballet folklórico dancers, community altars, and custom lowriders. An open-air street festival follows until 6:00 PM, featuring the Muertos Mercado market, hands-on printmaking and art workshops at Mariposa Plaza, and regional musicians. Several downtown blocks around Fourth and Congress remain closed to vehicle traffic through this evening, so plan on arriving by foot, bicycle, or transit.

---

Local Pulse

• Boggy Creek Bridge Lands on MoKan Trail Parks Crews installed a 14-foot steel bridge over Boggy Creek, moving East Austin closer to connecting Pedernales to Walnut Creek.

• Austin Energy Raises Rooftop Solar Bill Credits Business The municipal utility increased its Value of Solar rate this week, boosting monthly credits for residents generating rooftop power.

• Austin ISD Earns National School Food Honors Schools The district received national Silver recognition after directing $2.6 million of annual cafeteria spending toward regional food producers.

---

Today's Outlook

• High 84°F · Low 59°F — Fog
  • Give yourself extra braking room through early fog before afternoon warmth sets in.

---

What's On Around Town

Today

• Common Ground Arts Festival Hill Country Galleria (12700 Hill Country Blvd), Bee Cave, 11:00 AM–5:00 PM · Free Creative vendor market with live tunes and all-ages craft stations.

• Viva la Vida Festival & Parade 4th Street and Congress Avenue, Noon–6:00 PM · Free Grand procession, custom lowriders, and live music honoring Día de los Muertos.

• Round Rock Diwali Festival Centennial Plaza (301 W Bagdad Ave), Round Rock, 1:00–10:00 PM · Free Colorful festival of lights with folk dancing, music, and food.

• Austin's Haunted Mansions Tour Chateau Bellevue (708 San Antonio St), 8:00 PM · $45 Guided evening walking tour through the historic Bremond Block limestone district.

• Improvement Movement Brushy Street Commons (501 Brushy St), 8:00 PM · Paid Live indie performance with opening songwriter Jalen Reyes on Brushy.

Tomorrow

• Halloween Carnival Neill-Cochran House Museum (2310 San Gabriel St), 11:00 AM–3:00 PM · Free
• Art in ATX: Halloween Market Central Machine Works (4824 E Cesar Chavez St), 11:00 AM–4:00 PM · Free
• Full Moon Moonlight Paddle Rowing Dock (2418 Stratford Dr), 5:00–7:00 PM · $20

Monday

• Dave Chappelle Moody Center (2001 Robert Dedman Dr), 7:30 PM · Paid
• Hereditary Screening Paramount Theatre (713 Congress Ave), 7:30 PM
• Divorce in Concert Hole in the Wall (2538 Guadalupe St), 9:00 PM

---

Spotlight & Story

• Seiders Springs
  • Along the Shoal Creek Trail between 34th and 38th Streets, spring water still trickles from a limestone fault. In the 1870s, Edward Seiders built bathhouses and a dance pavilion here, ferrying downtown Austinites by carriage to splash beneath the shady live oaks.

---

Austin Daily Digest — compiled from local sources every morning. For breaking updates, follow your local newsrooms.

Sent with care by MailerDot — your city, every morning.