By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
More than 900 people attended Draculinafest at the Whitehead Memorial Museum on Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3, to hear rock, heavy metal and punk bands.
Draculinafest began three years ago and was created by Krystal Torres to provide a venue for bands to perform and a space where fans of underground music can hear those bands in person. The festival also included other entertainment, such as performances by the Ballet Folklorico Maxuilxochitl dance group, a haunted house and a costume contest to celebrate the upcoming Halloween holidays.
Torres said she believed this year’s turnout for the festival was great. She said she was overwhelmed by the number of people that attended the event on Friday and Saturday, adding how it was “more than what (our team) expected.”
Carlos Guerrero, an attendee at Draculinafest 2026, visited the festival with his friends on Friday evening and got a skull painted on his face from one of the vendors. Guerrero commented on how fun it was seeing bands perform for the first time at the festival.
“(Draculinafest) is really cool. It’s a nice festival, and the music is nice. I listen to that kind of genre, so it was nice hearing songs (that I like). And there are a ton of things you can buy here,” Guerrero said.
Draculinafest is seen as a place for returning bands to perform at while also showcasing new bands who may be performing for the first time. Ground Xero, a heavy-metal band from Uvalde, was one of the several bands who returned to perform at Draculinafest 2026. Joe Mitchell Salinas, guitarist for the Ground Xero, performed with his band on Saturday and said he believed they topped their performance from last year.
“Since we’re from out of town, we have pretty good energy, but when we come to Del Rio, we feel appreciated, and we feel loved here,” Salinas said.
While They Bled was one of the new bands who performed for the first time at Draculinafest. Anthony Garcia, lead guitarist and singer of While They Bled, spoke for this band and mentioned how proud he was of his band members performing at Draculinafest.
Draculinafest had 20 vendors on both days, with people selling various foods, drinks and merchandise such as keychains, jewelry and gothic and anime inspired accessories. Juan Rivero was with his family selling customized hot dogs and mentioned that it was their second time selling food at the festival. He wanted to thank Torres for inviting them again, adding how awesome the festival was.
