October 3 through November 2, 2026
With vibrant marigold blooms and a colorful community ofrenda, the rich traditions of Día de los Muertos come to the garden for a celebration of memory, life, and renewal—new this year at NYBG. Friendly spirit guides lead the way to joyful encounters with artfully arranged calaveras and a larger-than-life Catrina adorned with colorful flowers. Celebrate loved ones with music and crafts on weekends, while experiencing joyful moments of reflection among fall’s golden foliage and festive pumpkins. Be sure to join us on Sunday, November 1 at 2 p.m. for the Día de los Muertos parade!
To remember and honor loved ones who have passed away, we invite you to participate in a communal altar. You’re welcome to bring photographs or a written memory of a loved one who has passed to add to the display. Please note that all items contributed to the altar will become part of the installation and will not be returned. Offerings of food and candles are not permitted.
October 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, & 25; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
October 31 & November 2; 1 to 5 p.m.
Create vibrant and unique silk flowers to wear and take home, and discover the medicinal plants and botanical traditions that inspire Bronx-based teaching artist Blanka Amezkua. Join the artist in learning the traditional Mexican art of papel picado by creating miniature decorative banners.
These hands-on workshops offer a fun and meaningful opportunity for families to explore creativity together while learning about rich cultural traditions. We look forward to welcoming you for a month of creativity, learning, and celebration! Blanka Amezkua is a Mexican-American contemporary artist, fusing and combining many diverse and seemingly disparate elements into bold, colorful art. Learn more about her work here.
October 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, & 25
Sets at 11 a.m., 12, & 1 p.m.
Entrance to Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Enjoy live musical performances by a local band bringing the sounds of Mexico to Día de los Muertos.
Son Pecadores is a collective of jaraneros based in NYC, dedicated to learning and promoting son jarocho music on the East Coast. Son jarocho is a style of Mexican folk music and dance mainly from the state of Veracruz, in the Gulf of Mexico. It represents a blend of musical and cultural elements of indigenous, Spanish, and African origins.
Guided Activities: Tuesday through Friday: 1:30 to 5 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday, & Monday Holidays: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Explore the symbols, colors, and stories associated with this special holiday while learning about the importance of remembrance, family, and cultural traditions. Enjoy a selection of rotating activities with your loved ones, like potting up your own marigold and reading through a new story trail featuring The Ofrenda That We Built, by Jolene and Shaian Gutiérrez.
Select Dates & Times
Throughout the Garden
Internationally known artist Lucrecia Novoa showcases her giant hand-made skeleton, La Catrina, and monarch puppets created especially for NYBG, inviting visitors to snap a photo and share in the up-close wonder of Mascara Viva’s artistry. Mascara Viva brings her art to life by creating large-scale character puppets using masks, costumes, storytelling, and dance to interpret traditions and stories across cultures.
Monarch Puppets
October 24 & 25; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Roaming throughout the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
The monarchs are among the largest and most beautiful butterflies in North America. With their distinct orange, black, and white wings, they are easily recognized. Each winter, millions of monarch butterflies migrate to Southern California and the high mountains of Central Mexico, where it is warm year-round. In the spring, the monarchs return to their northern breeding areas to start the cycle of life anew.
La Catrina & Skeleton Puppets
October 31, November 1 & 2; 1 to 5 p.m.
Roaming throughout the grounds
La Catrina was originally drawn as a satirical cartoon in the early 20th century by famous Mexican printmaker and illustrator Jose Guadalupe Posada. Named “La Calavera Garbancera,” the image was meant to represent the large gap between social classes, and was inspired by Mictecacihuatl, the Aztec goddess of death and Lady of Mictlan, the underworld.
October 31 & November 2
Performances every half-hour from 1 to 5 p.m.
Select locations throughout the grounds
Inspired by traditional dances from several regions of Mexico, MAZarte Dance Company brings folk dance to the Garden. Their choreography embodies the fusion of Mexico’s old and new dances for future generations, and incorporates zapateado (foot stomping) techniques to evoke the sound of joyful celebration to call the spirits back to us.
Dance performances include:
About MAZarte
Choreographers: Martha Zárate-Alvarez and Noé Domínguez
MAZarte Dance Company is an artistic organization that exposes the history and the art of the indigenous artisans of Mexican culture through dance. The goal is to promote Mexican culture and heritage, and bring history to life. They offer educational programs to NYC communities, and believe that their approach to culture and the arts should be holistic—and that each program should reconnect and support the indigenous communities in Mexico.
Photo by Ed Alvarez
October 31 & November 1; 1, 3, & 4 p.m.
Circle Grass Area in Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Join Bilingual Birdies for a special Día de los Muertos concert celebration in Spanish and English. Families are encouraged to bring photos of lost loved ones. Together we’ll have a joyous afternoon honoring their memories through live music, dance, and puppetry. Little ones will get to learn new words in Spanish and be a part of an epic dance party!
Bilingual Birdies has been successfully teaching languages in early ed spaces since 2006. The enrichment program delivers the best bilingual teaching musicians along with a high-quality curriculum to schools and homes all over NYC and beyond. Children learn Spanish, French, Mandarin, or English through live music, movement, and puppetry. Original music albums and bilingual ebooks are provided for parents to further support the learning. In addition to the Bilingual Birdies school and home programs, The Bilingual Birdies Band performs in festivals across the city. In every class and concert, the Bilingual Birdies’ mission is to celebrate diversity and help little ones understand their bilingual power!
November 1; 1 to 5 p.m.
Select locations
Join us for a parade and celebration of Día de los Muertos featuring larger-than-life puppets and live dance, wearable art-making activities, and a cumbia sonidera class to get you moving!
1 p.m. | Welcome & Crafts
Enjoy a selection of hands-on, wearable art making activities to prepare for the parade.
2 p.m. | Día de los Muertos Parade
Join the parade and celebrate Día de los Muertos with us! Led by Son Pecadores musicians and dancers as well as Mascara Viva’s larger-than-life puppets—La Catrina, skeletons, and monarch butterflies—you can follow the music together in this joyful procession.
2:30 p.m. | Performance by MAZarte
Daffodil Hill Main Stage
After the parade, take a seat and enjoy a lively performance by MAZarte Dance Company, featuring traditional Mexican music and dance from Veracruz.
3:15 p.m. | Cumbia Sonidera Dance Class with CoolMarx
Daffodil Hill Main Stage
Learn basic cumbia sonidera steps with dance instructor CoolMarx and dancers Kacia and Cinthya. Though cumbia originated in Colombia, it has found a home in Mexico as well, where local musicians adapted the genre and created the distinctive rhythms and sounds of Mexican cumbia and its DJs, known as sonideros. Born and raised in Queens and now based in Brooklyn, Mark Saldana, a.k.a. CoolMarx, embraces all regional variations of cumbia in his community-based dance lessons—from cumbia sonidera and colombiana to ecuatoriana, peruana, and mexicana.
3:30 to 5 p.m. | Dance Party & Activities
Daffodil Hill
Dance to live musical performances and join in on fandango community-led dance and musical moments with Son Pecadores. Take photos with Lucrecia’s puppets; enjoy food selections and craft making; and participate in sharing joyful, happy memories of loved ones who have passed.
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