Día de los Muertos 2023
Día de los Muertos is typically celebrated at the beginning of November, traditionally Nov. 1 and 2. The holiday serves as a day to remember and celebrate friends and family members who have passed away.
There’s no better way to remember loved ones than with community. Here are some events for Dia de los Muertos happening this year around New York City.
Psst… Here the best holiday train rides in NYC and nearby!
Manhattan
20th Annual Día de Muertos
St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, 131 E 10th Street, East Village
Oct. 27-29, Friday – Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm
All ages
Free admission
Celebrate the lives of those who have left us and the community their presence has touched with various activities, including art-making and live music.
Help create a beautiful Ofrenda (Altar) where you can dedicate photographs (copies), letters, notes, and names to those who have departed.
Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos
National Museum of the American Indian New York, 1 Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan
Saturday, Oct. 28, 11 am – 5 pm
All ages
Free
Bring the whole family to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian for a day of remembering featuring traditional dances by New York-based Aztec dance group Cetiliztli Nauhcampa around the community ofrenda (altar) to honor ancestors.
Activities include crafting a paper marigold, making papel picado—“perforated paper,” a traditional Mexican folk art made by cutting intricate designs into tissue paper—and writing a note to a loved one who has passed.
Día de Muertos en El Barrio
El Museo del Barrio, 1230 5th Ave., East Harlem
Saturday, Oct. 28, 12 – 5 pm
Ages 5 and older
Free
Celebrate México’s beloved 3,000-year-old tradition commemorating friends and relatives who have passed away with a series of live performances, art-making workshops, a special altar, photo booth, and more!
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan Celebrates Día de Muertos
Children’s Museum of Manhattan, 212 W 83rd Street, Upper West Side
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 10 am – 5 pm
All ages
$16.75
Help build an Altar de Memorias art installation, make flower crowns, sculpt Posada-inspired skeletons, and more.
Día de Muertos Celebration at the Flatiron Plaza
Flatiron North Plaza, 23rd Street at Fifth Avenue, Flatiron District
Thursday, Nov. 2, 12 – 4 pm
All ages
Free
This public event will feature several elements integral to this historical Mexican tradition, including a folkloric ballet, interactive altar in partnership with the School of Visual Arts – Continuing Education, family activities, and Catrina face painting.
Bronx
Family Art Project: Day of the Dead
Wave Hill, 4900 Independence Ave. The Bronx
Oct. 28-29, Saturday and Sunday, 10 am – 1 pm.
All ages
Free with admission to the grounds: $10; $8 students and seniors 65 and older; $4 ages 6-18; free for members.
Celebrate this special Mexican cultural holiday and explore nicho boxes, small shadow boxes filled with meaning and purpose that honor a lost loved one. Decorate your box with objects and natural materials.
Dia de Los Muertos: Remember Your Loved Ones
Bronx Library Center, 310 E Kingsbridge Rd, Bronx
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 4 – 5 pm
All ages
Free
Remember loved ones through various mediums of self-expression. Start off with a quick guided meditation, get creative, and then end with a discussion.
This program is intended to help with the grieving of a loved one through the mediums of art and self-expression. Participants will paint a Dia de Los Muertos Sugar Skull. (Dia de los Muertos will be explained). Snacks and giveaway bags with art supplies will be provided.
Brooklyn
Day of the Dead LIVE! at the Brooklyn Art Haus, Classical Music, Aerialists, and Circus for All
Brooklyn Art Haus, 24 Marcy Avenue, Williamsburg
Oct. 18-Nov. 1, Wednesdays – Saturdays, 6 – 7 pm, Sundays, 2 – 3 pm
Ages 3 and older
$25
Day of the Dead LIVE! with diabolical music from classical and popular composers, Mexican and European, a one-hour piano performance with larger-than-life puppets, all themed around Halloween and Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos).
Accompanying the music are jugglers, stilt-walkers, ghosts, skeletons, and dancers, it’s a witty wild romp that’s also cultured. Day of the Dead LIVE! takes you on a musical and visual journey that is all FUN.
Day of the Dead Family Celebration
The Green-Wood Cemetery, 500 25th St., Sunset Park
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 4 – 7 pm
All ages
Free; $10 recommended donation
Discover the rich history and traditions associated with the holiday Día de los Muertos through family-friendly crafts, performances, music, activities, and food.
Celebrated throughout Latin America, this holiday is a time for family and friends to commemorate departed loved ones through prayer, altars, music, and dance.
Celebrate Día de los Muertos
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 145 Brooklyn Ave, Crown Heights
Saturday, Nov. 4, 10 am – 5 pm
All ages
$15; free for members
Enjoy art-making, dance, music, and food, explore our artist marketplace, and visit a community ofrenda to add memories and stories of your loved ones.
This year, Brooklyn-based artist Mincho Vega returns as BCM’s guest curator for a celebration of the traditions and histories of our ancestors from Latin America.
Events for Youth & Families: Día de los Muertos!
Brooklyn Public Library — Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Park
Saturday, Nov. 4, 1 – 2 pm
All ages
Free
Celebrate the unending connection to our dearly departed with the Calpulli Community. This rich Mexican tradition and the dances will be performed by young and talented Calpulli Community students.
Following the performance, Calpulli will teach you about the history of Mexico’s ‘Day of the Dead’ and will even invite you to dance!
Queens
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company’s Día de los Muertos
Queens Theatre, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 14 United Nations Ave S., Corona
Saturday, Oct. 28, 3 pm & 7:30 pm; Sunday, Oct. 29, 2 pm; Saturday, Nov. 4, 3pm
All ages
$30-$40
Love conquers all – in the world of the living and the dead. Dia de los Muertos celebrates our unending connection to our dearly departed. Don’t miss this timeless love story full of rich Mexican tradition told entirely through dance and live music.
Day of the Dead Celebration
Museum of the Moving Image
Thursday, Nov. 2, 4 – 6:30 pm
All ages
Free
Celebrate Day of the Dead with a performance by a presentation of Aztec Mexica dance, poetry, music from indigenous dance troupe Yayauhki Tezcatlipoka, and a face-painting session inspired by historical characters from Día de Muertos.
Explore the public altar in the Museum’s courtyard, followed by a catrina and catrin contest hosted by artist historian Rosa Ruíz and Catrinamía.
Day Of The Dead Performance By Cetiliztli Nauhcampa
Queens Public Library Langston Hughes, 100-01 Northern Boulevard, Corona
Thursday, Nov. 2, 6 – 7 pm
All ages
Free
Join Cetiliztli Nauhcampa’s ceremonial performance celebrating Day of the Dead. Cetiliztli Nauhcampa is a group made up of members from indigenous communities in different parts of Latin America.
They perform dances and songs that represent the ancient Anauach culture of Central and South America.
