An altar stands in front of the Visitor Center at 4600 Virginia Road. Rancho Los Cerritos built it to honor people connected to the property and to explain the traditions and symbols of Día de los Muertos. It's free to visit and stays up through November 8.
Up the road on Atlantic Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard, the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association has filled its late-October and November calendar with Latin-culture programming. The history and the altar are at the museum, while the music, food and weeknight game nights belong to the business district. For one weekend, October 24 and 25, both programs are on the same grounds.
The exhibit that started the season in February
The ofrenda is the latest piece of a longer program. Since its opening weekend of February 7 and 8, 2026, Rancho Los Cerritos has hosted "Seeds of Resilience: Barrio Americano." The exhibit covers Mexican American history in the Long Beach region through installations of an early-20th-century barrio, and the Rancho says it will stay on view for a year.
So the fall altar arrives eight months into an exhibit that has already been telling a related local story. If you've been meaning to see Barrio Americano, the ofrenda gives you a good reason to go now, because both are on the same grounds during the same public hours.
Those hours are Wednesday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The Rancho is closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission during public hours is free, donations are welcome, and you only need a reservation for groups of eight or more.
One weekend, two organizers, the same grounds
On Saturday, October 24, the Rancho hosts "Día de los Muertos: Symbols of Remembrance." It's a two-hour workshop from 10 a.m. to noon, open to all ages, at $15 a ticket, led by Long Beach artist Hely Omar Gonzalez. What participants make can go on the community ofrenda. That makes Saturday morning the one time this season when you can add to the altar, not just view it.
On Sunday afternoon, the business district comes to the Rancho. Salsa y Sabor, organized by the Bixby Knolls Community Foundation and listed on the BKBIA events calendar, runs at Rancho Los Cerritos on Sunday, October 25, from 1 to 5 p.m. The name refers to two kinds of salsa. The event is free but requires an RSVP, and the Eventbrite listing lists:
- Salsa tastings from Hispanic restaurants across Long Beach
- A salsa restaurant competition with People's Choice voting
- A salsa dance lesson
- Live music from Yari More Latin Band
- DJ sets throughout the afternoon
The organizers suggest bringing a lawn chair or picnic blanket. Eventbrite has been showing "Few tickets left," so RSVP early rather than at the gate.
Salsa y Sabor runs during the Rancho's regular Sunday hours of 1 to 5 p.m., and the museum calendar lists both the Community Ofrenda and Barrio Americano for October 25. In other words, everything the Rancho has built up since February is open while the business association's event takes place outside.
Here's how that weekend could run from start to finish without leaving the neighborhood:
- Saturday, 7:15 a.m. The Bixby Knolls Strollers, a neighborhood walking club, meet every Saturday at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 4105 Atlantic Ave. Coffee Bean sponsors the group with free coffee, leashed dogs are welcome, and the walks last about an hour on a different route each week.
- Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon. The Symbols of Remembrance workshop at Rancho Los Cerritos. The Rancho stays open until 5, so you have time to walk through Barrio Americano afterward.
- Saturday evening. Bixby Provisions at 4264 Atlantic Ave. The restaurant took over and rebranded the former Wood & Salt space this spring. Longbeachize describes its menu as international fusion in a gastropub style, with dishes like a $16 truffle burger and a $19 French dip.
- Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Salsa y Sabor on the Rancho grounds, with the ofrenda and the exhibit open the whole afternoon.
Owner Björn Risse told Longbeachize he wants Bixby Provisions to be "a choose-your-own-adventure menu that can be for casual or celebratory occasions." It works as a dinner stop between a morning at the adobe and an afternoon back on the same lawn.
When the Rancho closes, the season moves to Long Beach Boulevard
Rancho Los Cerritos is closed on Tuesdays, and that's the night BKBIA has picked for its other recurring Latin-culture event. Loteria Nights at Ancestros pair Taco Tuesday with free games of lotería, prizes, food and drink specials, and music curated by local community builder Evelyn Avila. They run from 5 to 8 p.m. on November 3, November 17 and December 1. Play is free, and RSVPs are appreciated but not required.
Ancestros is a Mexican restaurant at 3550 Long Beach Blvd. Longbeachize reported in September 2024 that it was set to open that month, with an opening menu of tortas, aguachile, esquites, queso fundido, mole and carne asada. Two years later, it's the restaurant where the business association holds a game night that runs from late October into December.
The first Loteria date after Salsa y Sabor is Tuesday, November 3, five days before the ofrenda comes down on Sunday, November 8. You can see the altar one last time that Sunday between 1 and 5 p.m., during the Rancho's regular Sunday hours.
One more date comes before all of this. On Thursday evening, October 22, BKBIA's Knights of the Round (Turn) Table meets at Beachwood Brewing & Distilling to listen to Oingo Boingo's Dead Man's Party. BKBIA calls it a book club for music. The music starts at 6:30 p.m., seating is open, and food and drinks are bought directly from Beachwood. An album named for a party of the dead is a fitting way to start a week that ends at an ofrenda.
The dates in order, through December 1
| Date | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 22, 6:30 p.m. | Knights of the Round (Turn) Table, Dead Man's Party | Beachwood Brewing & Distilling | RSVP; buy food and drinks there |
| Sat, Oct 24, 7:15 a.m. | Bixby Knolls Strollers walk | Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 4105 Atlantic Ave | Free coffee from sponsor |
| Sat, Oct 24, 10 a.m. to noon | Día de los Muertos: Symbols of Remembrance | Rancho Los Cerritos | $15 |
| Sun, Oct 25, 1 to 5 p.m. | Salsa y Sabor | Rancho Los Cerritos | Free, RSVP required |
| Tue, Nov 3, 5 to 8 p.m. | Loteria Night | Ancestros, 3550 Long Beach Blvd | Free |
| Through Sun, Nov 8 | Community Ofrenda | Rancho Los Cerritos Visitor Center | Free |
| Tue, Nov 17, 5 to 8 p.m. | Loteria Night | Ancestros | Free |
| Tue, Dec 1, 5 to 8 p.m. | Loteria Night | Ancestros | Free |
Barrio Americano stays open after the altar comes down. The Rancho says the exhibit runs a year from its February opening, so you can still see it during regular public hours well into 2027.
At GlobalPoint, we follow the Bixby Knolls and Virginia Country Club calendar closely, from Rancho Los Cerritos on Virginia Road to the restaurants along Atlantic Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard. If you'd like a local's view of how this part of Long Beach spends its weekends, Let's Connect.
