Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. this Sunday, November 1, when Reno's clocks fall back to 1 a.m. standard time, according to timeanddate.com. The next evening, Dragon Lights Reno moves its opening from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m. and starts closing at 9 instead of 10. That one-hour shift tells you how the rest of the fall calendar is laid out. Halloween weekend, October 30 and 31, packs a theater show and a two-day downtown celebration around the lantern show. From Monday through November 29, the lanterns at the Wilbur D. May Arboretum are the evening event with a fixed nightly schedule, while the downtown holiday traditions haven't posted 2026 dates yet.
So the order matters. Halloween weekend is the last full one. After that, plan your weeknights around the arboretum.
Halloween Weekend Is the Last One With Everything at Once
Three events run across Friday and Saturday. Friday evening's hours overlap heavily, so most households will choose between them that night and use Saturday's daytime session to catch the one they missed.
- Friday, October 30, 6 to 10 p.m. Reno's Day of the Dead, produced by High Sierra Entertainment, opens its first session at Reno City Plaza, 30 N. Virginia St. Admission is free, all ages are welcome, and you don't need a ticket.
- Friday and Saturday, 7 to 9:30 p.m. The Selden, at 960 S. Virginia St., runs the last two nights of its 21-and-over Rocky Horror Picture Show. Your ticket covers the show, and drinks are sold separately.
- Saturday, October 31, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Día de los Muertos returns to City Plaza for its daytime session, so you can go before an evening out.
The Selden show is a live, immersive performance that runs alongside the film, as This Is Reno described it in mid-October. If you're aiming for the October 31 show, check seats soon. On The Selden's Halloween night ticket page, single reserved seats at $30 and pairs of bar seats at $60 were marked sold out. A four-seat high-top table was listed at $120, plus tax and a service fee.
Dragon Lights is also open both nights, on its later October schedule of 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday are the last two nights this fall when the plaza celebration, the theater show and the lantern walk all fall on the same dates.
The Day of the Dead Listings Don't Match, So Check Before You Go
The schedule above comes from the organizer's own site, renoddlm.com. It lists two separate sessions at City Plaza, offers an optional free RSVP, and says entry is free in both English and Spanish. On the Downtown Reno Partnership's event page, general admission is free. An optional VIP pass for both days is $100 per person, and an eight-person El Patrón table is $750. That page's title names Believe Plaza at 10 N. Virginia St. Its description covers the City Plaza event and links to the same registration.
The City of Reno's special events calendar shows something different. It lists a Día de los Muertos on Saturday, October 31, from 2 to 11 p.m., describing it as a two-day celebration at Locomotion Plaza. That listing doesn't match the organizer's venue or hours. It could be a separate event, or the city's entry may not have been updated.
If you're heading downtown Saturday afternoon, use the organizer's schedule. City Plaza runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., so arriving at 4 based on the city's listing could mean you miss the City Plaza session. Check renoddlm.com the morning of, since the organizer's own page is the one most likely to show a change.
Where to Eat Before Each Stop
Two of Reno's newer restaurants sit near the Halloween weekend venues.
For City Plaza: Guadalajara Grill opened its second location at 180 E. First St., near the ballpark, a few blocks from the plaza. This Is Reno reported that the family-owned Mexican restaurant started in Fernley in 2021. The building previously housed King Sushi, and before that Vistro, and many locals will know it by its bright orange paint. A Friday dinner here pairs easily with the 6 p.m. Day of the Dead opening.
For The Selden: Malaya serves Filipino food at 805 S. Wells Ave., a short drive from the 960 S. Virginia St. theater. The restaurant's own history traces it from a June 2023 pop-up at the Riverside Farmers Market to food truck service in January 2024, then a weekly spot at that market and Truckee Thursdays. It opened the Wells Avenue restaurant on January 10, 2026. This Is Reno's September review notes that the brick-and-mortar space let the kitchen expand its menu beyond the truck. With a 7 p.m. curtain, an early dinner there gives you time to get to your seat.
Starting Monday, the Lanterns Open an Hour Earlier
On November 2, Dragon Lights Reno switches to 5 to 9 p.m., seven days a week, through November 29. The earlier start puts the show within reach right after work or school, an hour before its October opening time.
This year's theme is "Many Worlds Aglow," built around three zones. Asian Safari includes a panda bamboo forest corridor and galloping horses five meters tall. African Desert features a 28-meter centerpiece and a color-shifting chameleon. Dinosaur World is led by a six-meter Tyrannosaurus rex and has a 25-meter butterfly corridor. Local food vendors are back, and according to Visit Reno Tahoe the menu now includes hot drinks.
On the organizer's ticket page, online prices already include tax and fees, and the weekday rate is noticeably lower.
- Weekday adult: $23.75
- Weekday child, ages 3 to 11: $17.75
- Weekday four-pack: $85
- Friday or Saturday adult: $27
- Friday or Saturday child: $19.75
- Friday or Saturday four-pack: $93
- Under 3: free
For a family of four, a Tuesday four-pack saves $8 compared with a Saturday four-pack. The free shuttle only runs Fridays and Saturdays, so on weekdays you'll be parking yourself. Parking is free and first come, first served. Close-in spaces at the Wilbur D. May Center are reserved for ADA parking. Arboretum lot spaces are limited, and more parking is available at the park's west end. On Fridays and Saturdays, the shuttle leaves the west-end lot every 15 minutes. The first one departs at 5:45 p.m., and the last leaves the festival entrance at 10:15 p.m. For groups of 10 or more, there's a group discount on general admission.
The Downtown Traditions Haven't Posted 2026 Dates
The rest of November looks sparse on the calendar because two downtown traditions haven't announced 2026 dates. The Holiday Lights Festival's listing on Reno This Week says no dates are scheduled and shows the last festival as December 6, 2025. The downtown seasonal ice rink hasn't published an opening date, hours or prices for the 2026 to 2027 season either. The Grand Sierra Resort rink and the year-round Reno Ice arena are separate operations, so their schedules don't tell you when the downtown rink will open.
Until those dates appear, here's what is set:
- November 7 and 8: Handmade for the Holidays runs at the Red Hawk Golf & Resort Event Center, 6600 N. Wingfield Pkwy. in Sparks. Admission and parking are free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
- November 13 and 14: The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Christmas Craft Fair is at the colony's gym, 34 Reservation Road. It runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with free admission.
- Every night through November 29: Dragon Lights, 5 to 9 p.m., at 1595 N. Sierra St.
The craft fair's 6 p.m. close comes after the clock change, so you could shop the fair and still reach the arboretum by early evening. If you want to see the lanterns before the season ends, a November weeknight is the least expensive time to go.
Soni Jackson follows what's opening, moving and changing across Reno through the year, from new restaurants to seasonal calendar shifts like this one. If you're curious what your home might be worth as winter sets in, request a personalized home valuation and Soni will put together a picture specific to your street.
