On Saturday, October 31, two of Encino's public grounds open for two different holidays. The Encino Community Center on Balboa Boulevard hosts a free Halloween festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Los Encinos State Historic Park on Moorpark Street lists the first of two days of Día de los Muertos. Last year the park held its observance on November 1 and 2, the weekend after Halloween. This year the dates are October 31 and November 1, which puts the costumes and the ofrenda on the same Saturday.
That overlap gives the weekend an order. The city's festival ends by early afternoon. The state park's observance runs across two days. On Sunday morning, the farmers market on Victory Boulevard is open while the park's second day is underway. Here is how the three fit together.
Saturday starts on Balboa, on the city's schedule
The morning event appears on the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks 2026 Halloween Activities List, the citywide schedule of the department's fall programs. Encino's entry is the Encino Community Center/Balboa Sports Complex at 4935 Balboa Blvd., running 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on October 31. It is free and open to all ages, with games, crafts, face painting and tattoos, a costume contest, and a dog costume contest.
Four hours is a short window, and it sets the pace for the rest of the day. The event starts mid-morning and ends early in the afternoon. Anyone planning the full Saturday can treat Balboa as the first stop.
The dog contest has its own clock inside that window
The Encino Neighborhood Council is holding its third annual Doggy Costume Contest at the same community center on Saturday, October 31, at 1:30 p.m. It is free, but registration is required and spaces are limited.
The timing details are in the council's registration form:
- Registration closes at 1 p.m. on October 31, thirty minutes before the contest starts.
- The contest is held outdoors, between the auditorium and the Women's Club.
- It starts at 1:30 p.m., which puts it in the last half hour of the Rec and Parks festival.
The council's materials do not list categories or prizes. That makes the deadline the key detail. With a cap on entries and a cutoff on the day itself, registering early is safer than signing up on the lawn.
Saturday afternoon moves to the spring on Moorpark
When the Balboa festival ends at 2 p.m., the second holiday is already underway on Moorpark Street. The Los Encinos State Historic Park page on the California State Parks site shows Día de los Muertos under its upcoming events on October 31 and again on November 1, a Saturday and Sunday on this year's calendar. Hours and a 2026 program are not posted yet, so check that page before you go.
The best guide to what the observance looks like is last year's version. The California State Parks Weekly Digest of October 24, 2025 listed the 2025 event at Los Encinos from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and described it this way:
"The main feature of the event would be a community ofrenda, where guests are encouraged to honor their loved ones by bringing a photo or drawing a picture of them in remembrance. Additionally, visitors can also learn the cultural history of Dia de los Muertos and its connection to Los Encinos State Historic Park."
That was the 2025 format, held on November 1 and 2. If it carries over this year, the only thing to bring is a photograph or a drawing.
Why this ground suits remembrance
Both events are free and outdoors. What separates them is the history of the ground. The Balboa complex is a modern recreation campus. Los Encinos sits where people have gathered for a very long time. State Parks identifies the site as the village of Siutcanga, where a natural spring supplied water year-round. The village was home to Chumash, Tongva, and Tataviam people. The park page also notes that the Spanish later called them "Fernandeños" because the three groups were enslaved at the San Fernando Mission. The 1769 Portolá Expedition named the valley for its oaks, and the property later became the center of Rancho Los Encinos.
Some of the park's structures date to the rancho era:
- The de la Ossa Adobe. According to California Historical Landmark No. 689, Vincente de la Osa built an adobe at 16756 Moorpark St. in 1849.
- The Garnier building. A two-story stone masonry building that now serves as the park's visitor center.
- The blacksmith shop. It sits alongside the adobe and the Garnier building on the rancho grounds.
- The pond. Ranch owner Eugene Garnier built it in 1874, fed by the same spring that has drawn people to the site for thousands of years.
State Parks says the exhibits cover the farming businesses of the rancho's successive owners, including Mission Indian, Mexican Californio, French, and French Basque families. Last year's program said it would explain the holiday's connection to this park. On a site with that many generations behind it, a community ofrenda fits naturally.
The weekend at a glance
| When | Where | What is scheduled | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Encino Community Center/Balboa Sports Complex, 4935 Balboa Blvd. | Games, crafts, face painting and tattoos, costume contest, dog costume contest | Free |
| Sat., Oct. 31, 1 p.m. | Online form | Registration closes for the ENC Doggy Costume Contest | Free |
| Sat., Oct. 31, 1:30 p.m. | Outdoors between the auditorium and the Women's Club, same address | ENC third annual Doggy Costume Contest | Free, registration required |
| Sat., Oct. 31 and Sun., Nov. 1 | Los Encinos State Historic Park, 16756 Moorpark St. | Día de los Muertos; 2026 hours to be posted by State Parks | Check the park listing |
| Sun., Nov. 1, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Encino Farmers Market, 17400 Victory Blvd. | Weekly market with fall produce | Not listed |
Sunday ends on Victory, with the park still open
Because the park's dates moved, both of its days fall on the weekend, and the second one lines up with the weekly ONEgeneration Encino Farmers Market. The market runs Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 17400 Victory Blvd. Its fall produce list includes pumpkins, persimmons, apples, pomegranates, walnuts, and winter squash.
On November 1, that means a morning stop on Victory and a visit to Los Encinos for the second day of the ofrenda can happen on the same Sunday. Last year's hours started at 10:30 a.m. If this year's are similar, the two overlap through late morning and early afternoon.
The rancho stays on the calendar into November
Los Encinos also has a regular history program. State Parks has scheduled free Heritage Days for October 18 and November 22, from 1 to 3 p.m., with live demonstrations of rancho-era history and old-fashioned games. The October date has passed by this week, so the next one is Sunday, November 22, three weeks after the ofrenda's second day.
People who first see the adobe and the spring-fed pond during the Día de los Muertos weekend can come back for that afternoon. It brings visitors back to the same buildings, this time focused on the working life of the rancho.
At Joan Duffy, we value homes and places that hold their history well, and an 1849 adobe a short drive from Ventura Boulevard is one of the Valley's best examples. If you'd like to talk through what living near Encino's older landmarks could mean for your next move, Let's Connect.
