The Rules Sit on One Page
The Marigold Project publishes the terms its Festival of Altars runs on. They sit at dayofthedeadsf.org/personal-altar-guidelines, a page the site's navigation leaves out and the sitemap lists.
The festival page carries the clock. Installation starts at 8 a.m., the High Noon ceremony at 12 p.m., entertainment at 5 p.m., and the clear at 10 p.m.
What a Duty Manager Takes From the Ground Rules
Set-up runs 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The organiser asks each altar to stand by 2 p.m. where possible.
Amplified sound is barred. Electricity is not supplied. An altar that needs power requires a silent generator and advance notice to the organiser. Fire is barred. Staking into the ground is barred, and the organiser gives the reason: stakes damage irrigation lines under the grass. Digging is barred.
Candles are allowed as decoration, and LED candles are preferred. Water must sit at every altar, one gallon minimum.
Trees take string only. Tack and nails are barred. The organiser describes the trees as very old and dry from the drought. Altars and candles stay out of the playground. Name and organisation plaques are capped at 12 inches long and 4 inches tall.
Alcohol is barred for the duration. The organiser gives its reason: the rule works toward cutting down police intervention. The page labels the event noncommercial. Admission is free and open to the public.
The 10 p.m. Clear
Clean-up begins promptly at 10 p.m. That deadline closes the park day, one hour after the 9 p.m. entertainment finish. The park day runs fourteen hours from the 8 a.m. installation start.
The entertainment window holds 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. A duty manager writes the noise and safety plan to that window and to the clear.
The Fine Attached to the Clear
The organiser publishes its own bin terms. Trash, compost and recycle bins sit in the park, and participants should find them before set-up. The organiser states that the park and trash collectors fine it for anything left behind or placed in the wrong bin.
A separate line names Scraps, a nonprofit store at 801 Toland Street, San Francisco 94124, entered at Newcomb. Scraps takes usable art materials and candles, Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Concerns from police, rangers or attendees route to the Marigold Project Information Table. The table sits at the benches in front of the playground, and it doubles as the altar-space check-in.
The Civic-Programme Line
Every page footer reads: Marigold Project is a 501 c3 fiscally sponsored by Intersection for the Arts. The organisation dates its founding to 1992.
The about page places the organisation in the Indigenous and Latinx community of San Francisco's Mission District. It names the Ritual Poetry Circle in Potrero Del Sol Park and the After Dark Murmuration at the Exploratorium among its programmes.
The programme for the park day lists community-built altars, live performances, interactive art and craft stations, and cultural ceremonies. The organiser states that it pays indigenous practitioners, artists, poets, musicians and dancers to take part in its free events.
The Edition Date
The organiser's home page and festival page both read November 2, 2025 at Potrero Del Sol Park. No page on the site carries 2026. The band LA GENTE SF lists the current edition on its own tour page: "The Marigold Project Presents: Dia De Muertos: Festival of Altars", Monday, November 2, 5:00PM to 9:00PM, at Potrero Del Sol Park, 2827 Cesar Chavez Street.
November 2, 2025 fell on a Sunday. November 2, 2026 falls on a Monday. The band's event line prints no year.
The Property Read
The park day publishes no attendance figure, no room block, no partner property and no rate. A scan of the five pages returns nothing for hotel, lodging, shuttle or procession.
Two nights bracket the park day: the working night before the 8 a.m. installation, and the night the clear closes at 10 p.m.