OCEANSIDE -- The city's annual Dia de los Muertos, or "Day of the Dead," festival may have some life left after all.

The Mission San Luis Rey is in talks to take over the popular event from downtown booster group MainStreet Oceanside, which recently scrapped the festival as part of an internal reorganization.

"I'm very sure we're going to do something," said Maureen Sullivan, special events coordinator at the Mission. "We just need to figure out what is in place already, what can transfer to our property, what may not transfer to our property -- that type of stuff. The logistics are just starting to be figured out."

Since 2001, tens of thousands of people have poured into downtown Oceanside for the annual event. The November 1-2 holiday -- a celebration of deceased family and friends -- has its roots in Mexico, but is also celebrated in the United States.

Oceanside's version including music, dancing and food. Miniature altars, strewn with marigolds, honor the dead.

City Councilman Jerry Kern called the festival one of the "premier cultural events in Southern California."

MainStreet spent about $40,000 to put on the event, according to its report to the city last year. As part of a sweeping reorganization this week, the board voted to cancel the festival, as well as two antique fairs.

Rick Wright, MainStreet's interim executive director, said the Mission, which has plenty of acreage, would be a good place for the festival.

"One of MainStreet's frustrations with Dia was the inability to grow the event due to limited space downtown," Wright said.

Kern, too, was excited about the switch.

"Dia is more of a religious holiday anyway, so it's a better fit for the Mission," he said.

The 211-year-old Mission San Luis Rey is the largest of California's 21 missions.

Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 901-4062 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.