In 2009, David Pierce, the executive director of Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival, decided to bring his love of music and Halloween together to create a themed musical titled Cirque du Horror in Denton. Two years later, he launched the first Denton Day of the Dead Festival, which combined American Halloween lore with Dia de Los Muertos themes.

The context: The three-day festival is one of the biggest attractions to Denton’s monthlong Halloween festivities and takes place during the final full weekend in October.

In 2025, Pierce said the festival brought in 30,000-35,000 people for that Saturday, the event's busiest day. Now the city of Denton, community members and local businesses are involved in an annual celebration that boosts the local economy.

“The businesses started realizing this was going to be one of their best days of the year," Pierce said. "It grew into their best day or weekend of the year, which has grown into the 31 Days of Denton Halloween.”

During a joint Denton ISD and Denton City Council meeting Oct. 13, Seth Garcia, Denton’s director of capital projects and street operations, gave updates on four city street projects requiring coordination with nearby schools.

The city of Denton is working closely with neighboring schools to keep walking and driving routes to school as open as possible for students and parents, Garcia said.

1. Riney Road East

Project: The project widened Riney Road from west of Hardaway Road to US 77. The project also put in a concrete hike and bike trail tying Anita Reeves Elementary School to the city’s North Lakes Park trails.

Update: The project is substantially complete, and the roadway is fully open. Final striping is underway and a flashing pedestrian beacon is going in at the crosswalk.

• Timeline: completed summer 2026

• Cost: $1.9 million

• Funding source: city of Denton

Charter school Great Hearts Prairie View held a ceremony in the middle of August following construction for its Upper School in Fort Worth.

The details: The Upper School covers 6-11 grades but will be a full K-12 school by the 2027-28 school year, according to its website. The school already has a Lower School for kindergarten to fifth grade. 

A groundbreaking ceremony was held July 24, 2025, for the construction of the Upper School, according to a social media post from the school.

• 9001 NW US 287, Fort Worth