Dia De Los Muertos Celebration at Congressional Cemetery

Join us for an extraordinary celebration of Dia De Los Muertos at Historic Congressional Cemetery. In collaboration with special guest and Capitol Hill resident, Rosa Moreno, we will transform the chapel in the center of our grounds into a place of learning, remembrance, and celebration of the “Day of the Dead."

“I have been in DC for 14 years and a resident of the Capitol Hill area. I was born and raised in the southwest, AZ and TX. I come from a Mexican-American family that has been in the southwestern part of the country for generations.

Day of the dead is one of my favorite holidays because we get to set aside a day to celebrate our loved ones that have passed. It's a festive celebration full of life and joy.

It's a great pleasure to celebrate this year in such a historic and treasured location. Excited to come together with our neighbors to share this special occasion.”

Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration that honors ancestors and connects the living with the dead. For our celebration, we welcome the public to join us in the spirit of the holiday by bringing your memories to add to a community ofrenda at the cemetery. Bring photos of people you have loved and have lost to death as well as mementoes representing them: the foods and symbols of the things they loved and memories you shared. We will share stories about those who are gone, learn about the traditions of Dia De Los Muertos and similar customs around the world, and join the community around remembrance and mourning.

On November 2 at 11am, guests are invited to join us at the historic chapel in the center of the cemetery where an enormous community ofrenda will honor the ancestors. The public is welcomed to bring photos of loved ones to add to the community ofrenda, as well as foods to share that your person or people enjoyed. Join us to decorate sugar skulls, make paper flowers, and learn about the holiday. No experience necessary.

In addition, the cemetery is collaborating with Crayola Flowers for a special way to celebrate the holiday, beautify our grounds, and honor those buried at our historic cemetery. Participants can purchase flowers to bring to the graves of loved ones and any graves with special meaning to you. The cemetery will also have flowers available for our Dia De Los Muertos participants to decorate graves of your choice throughout the cemetery.

At the end of the celebration we will gather outside in a procession around the chapel and out to open the gate to bid the ancestors farewell, inviting them to return again next year.

Are you joining us? CLICK HERE to let us know to expect you. You will receive a reminder a few days before November 2.

Notes:

· What is an ofrenda? CLICK HERE

· Let’s bring copies of photos, only, please. You are welcome to scan photos and email them for us to print them out.

· All items on the ofrendas will be donated or recycled if not taken home on the 3rd.

· Please bring foods to share that your person enjoyed in disposable containers or ones you will bring home.

This is a community event and free of charge offered by the Cemetery’s nonprofit foundation. Donations to the Foundation are welcomed and help us open the grounds for these impactful gatherings. Donations of your time helping out during the event, of flowers, and of food to share all serve our goal in offering death education and awareness activities at our historic cemetery, the Greatest Undertaking in DC!

Questions? You can reach our Death Doula in Residence, Laura Lyster-Mensh at [email protected]

Learn more:

PBS News Hour

What is Día de los Muertos? An expert explains the holiday celebrating loved ones who have died

Host or Publisher Congressional Cemetery