Where to celebrate Day of the Dead in Los Angeles

Santa Monica will host crafts, performances and larger-than-life art installations during this Day of the Dead event at Third Street Promenade. Look out for paper mache sculptures by local artist Ricardo Soltero, who’s created pieces especially for Santa Monica. You’ll also find community altars, a Latinx pop-up market, free face painting for kids, and ballet folklórico and Aztec dancers.

Each year, crowds descend upon Hollywood Forever Cemetery for its epic Day of the Dead celebration. The grounds are covered with altars to the dead created by community artists, dance rituals, arts and crafts projects, amazing costumes and food vendors aplenty. Though it’s promising an intimate, community-centered format this year, the display is sure to be spectacular, as always. The day will be split into three sessions (1–3:30pm, 4:30–9pm and 9:30pm–1:30am). The later two include a screening of Disney’s Coco, and the 4:30pm slot will feature a drone show after the film. We suggest trying to go then: Besides the drones, the glowing, flickering altars look absolutely incredible after dark—though that’s also when the crowds tend to be the thickest.

Head to Gloria Molina Grand Park for a two-week display of 19 altars created by professional artists and community organizations. This year, in light of the recent ICE raids, the ofrendas will not only honor deceased loved ones but also L.A.’s immigrant communities. The displays officially kick off on October 25, during Grand Ave Arts: All Access, complemented by an afternoon of face painting, printmaking and sugar-skull crafting, plus live mariachi music (11am–4pm). On November 2, the event closes with the illuminating Noche de los Muertos, which will feature an Aztec ceremonial dance, local artisans selling goods at a mercado, and activities including lantern-making. Latin Grammy nominee Lupita Infante will wrap up the celebration with a candlelight set (3–7pm). All of the festivities are free.

Peruse altars in the plaza of El Pueblo at this Day of the Dead celebration, which incorporates pre-Columbian, Aztec, Mayan and Catholic traditions. Expect plenty of festive wares from the merchants on Olvera Street, along with altars that go on display each morning and a candlelight procession every night for nine nights. Stop by during weekends for face painting (for a fee) and theatrical performances. And on Día de los Muertos itself, November 1, there’ll be a 5K race through the area, which you can register for here.

Explore the historical and cultural significance of Day of the Dead traditions with music, dance and food during this free celebration at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. See traditional Oaxacan dance and ballet folklórico performances, as well as sketches inspired by the skeletal La Catrina. The whole family can get creative with hands-on art, garden and culinary workshops, or learn about L.A.’s history on a free museum tour.

SoCal’s most recognizable cemetery chain—we’re not the only ones who think it’s strange that’s a thing, right?—is honoring the dead with Día de los Muertos celebrations at four of its locations. The Glendale, Cypress, Covina Hills and Cathedral City locations all typically host altars, six-foot-tall Catrinas, hand-painted alebrijes, folkloric dance and mariachi performances.

Boyle Heights-adjacent gallery and community center Self Help Graphics & Art has presented this Day of the Dead celebration for half a century. And though its brick-and-mortar location is currently under renovation, SHG will still stage its annual tradition, albeit with a few off-site tweaks. The event will still begin with a procession at Mariachi Plaza (2pm), but it’ll then move a few stops east on the E Line to L.A. County Civic Center Park, where you’ll find altars, a marketplace, food, face painting and live entertainment. Look out for some themed, family-friendly art workshops in the lead-up to the event at the East L.A. County Library (Oct 5, 12, 26: noon–3pm; Oct 19: 3-5pm).

Long Beach’s Museum of Latin American Art is observing Day of the Dead with an afternoon of food, performances, shopping from local artisans, and all sorts of festive touches. This year’s theme is “Resilience,” celebrating the community and our capacity to overcome hardship and difficulties in light of the challenging year L.A. has had. The free family-friendly festival will also host an art workshop, face painting and sugar-skull painting for kids, plus a catrina contest for those who come in costume.

Celebrate Day of the Dead at the end of Route 66 with this two-day art installation surrounding the Santa Monica Pier’s historic carousel, which will be decked out in marigolds and papel picado for the occasion. The free, family-friendly event also features ballet folklorico performances and activities for kids all weekend. Sunday’s celebration will start with a parade with Aztec dancers beginning at the west end of the Pier—Día de los Muertos attire is encouraged—followed by live mariachi music, arts and crafts, an artistan market and a car meet. In addition to altars made by local artists Sylvia Sanchez and Yolanda Medina, there will also be a community altar, and attendees can pay tribute to loved ones who’ve passed away by sharing stories and photographs of their favorite Pier memories.

Downey’s annual Day of the Dead celebration returns to the city’s civic center, where over 25,000 guests are expected. The sprawling free festival features seven art exhibits by Latinx artists, crafts, face painting, a chalk walk, live entertainment, food trucks and a beer and wine garden. Kids can enjoy storytimes and puppet shows, and decorate their own sugar skulls. And, of course, there are altars: Besides a community altar, you’ll find altars displayed on and in classic cars, a Dodger blue altar, a pet altar and shoebox altars.

Stroll the streets of Downtown San Pedro during this Day of the Dead celebration to the sounds of both traditional and contemporary takes on Mexican folklore music. Snack on regional Mexican fare, sip on suds in the beer garden, shop for artisan crafts and let the kiddos run around, make crafts and get their faces painted. Make sure to stop by the ceremonial altars—you can enter your own in a free competition—in addition to a community-wide altar of remembrance. The event will take place at the intersection of 6th and Mesa Streets.