London's Day of Dead 2025

London's Day of the Dead presented by Let's Discuss Death
The festival draws from Pre-Columbian rituals over 3,000 years old and Christian All Hallows’ Eve traditions brought to Mexico with the arrival of Cortés in 1609, resulting in a uniquely syncretic celebration. It is a joyful festival, honouring and remembering those who have died. Families prepare the favourite meals of the departed, decorate graves with flowers, light candles, place cigarettes in the soil, and sing the songs their loved ones once cherished.

In Britain, All Hallows’ Eve itself has deep roots, tracing back to the Celtic festival of Samhain in the 8th century. It marked the end of harvest when fires were lit for cleansing, the veil between worlds was believed to thin, and families invited the spirits of their ancestors to feast with them. Across the world, this reverence for the dead connects cultures:

• In China, the Hungry Ghost Festival offers food to ancestral spirits.
• In India, families honour seven generations through sacred water rituals and feasts.
• In Cambodia, one of the most important festivals of the year blends prayer, offerings, and buffalo races in honour of the ancestors.

Columbia Road is famous for its flower market and flowers are an intrinsic part of this annual celebration. Flowers such as marigolds decorate the outside of houses and help the dead find their way back to the land of the living. They also represent the transience of life. In collaboration with local florists, Columbia Road shops will be decorated with flowers. Shopkeepers will be dressed in suitable attire. Expect face painting, artists creating shrines and ghostly figures from the past.

The Day of the Dead festival, which featured in the opening sequence of the James Bond film ‘Spectre’, was extremely popular in 2009 and 2015 at the British Museum. This time, holding the festival on a street as opposed inside a Museum will allow for a more inclusive celebration of this popular festival. It is a celebration and culture that has a distinct appeal to the imagination.

Saturday 1st November 2025 – Columbia Road
From midday Columbia Road will come alive to celebrate London’s Day of the Dead.
We’ll be keeping to Mexican time—so think of the timings below as a guide, not something to set your watch by!

Programme

• 10.00am – Face painting available outside the school .
• 10.30am – Meet outside the school to gather for the cycle ride.
• 11.00am – London’s Day of the Dead Cycle Ride departs Columbia Road for Tower Hamlets Cemetery. Organised with Kidical Mass, this is a child-friendly ride. Please come dressed for the occasion—skulls, flowers, insects! The ride returns to Ezra Street around 12.30pm. Photographers will be on hand, so don’t be shy if you’d like to be captured in all your finery - FREE but please book.
• 12pm – London's Day of the Dead Beauty parlour opens for hair & face _ get the look at Shipton Street Gallery, Shipton Street.
• 12.45pm – Yoga with Anu Kumar, local GP and choreographer. A gentle session to invite the spirits to return and to remind us of our earthly bodies. Two rehearsals will be held in London—see the Eventbrite page for details. No experience required.
• 1.00pm – Dance Performance by Mexican choreographer Alondra, inspired by La Catrina.
• 2.00pm – The Procession begins, led by Mariachi Las Adelitas, followed by the Colour Walk participants.
• 3.30pm – Second Dance Performance by Alondra, continuing the La Catrina-inspired celebration.

Join us for a day of joy and remebrance

We our keeping the event free but if you would like to make a donation or receive an award from our crowd funder campaign then please follow this link.

For Mexican Day of the Dead updates please follow: http://www.columbiaroad.info

[Travel]:

Tube: Bethnal Green (Central) or Old Street (Northern)

Bus: 8, 26, 55 and many others (please see our map)

Train: Cambridge Heath Road (National Express/National Rail) or Old Street (First

Capital Connect)

EAST LONDON OVERGROUND! Hoxton & Shorditch High St.

Other transport information can be found at http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk

Directions and parking details on our website at http://www.columbiaroad.info/

map.html

[Dates]:

Mexican Day of the Dead Saturday 1st November 2025 from 12pm onwards.

[Contact]:

If you require any more details, don’t hesitate to contact me, Juliette, on 0207 613

0876 or by email [email protected]

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