Every year on the last Saturday before November 2nd, Hollywood Forever welcomes the community onto our cemetery grounds to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos – the Day of the Dead. Dia de Los Muertos is one of Mexico’s most colorful traditional holidays, which reunites and honors beloved ancestors, family and friends. It is believed that on Dia de Los Muertos, the living commune with the dead – it is a mystical time when the veil is lifted between their two realms, so that they may share a day together.
At Hollywood Forever participants from the around the world, most of them in costume, spend a unique and memorable day. The cemetery comes to life with joyful celebration, as a vibrant procession featuring hundreds of Aztec ritual dancers weaves through the cemetery.
More than 100 altars, created by members of the community in remembrance of their ancestors and loved ones, dot the grounds. Musical performances by Grammy Award winning recording artists entertain on five stages. An art exhibition in The Cathedral Mausoleum displays hundreds of original artworks. Food vendors from around Los Angeles, arts and crafts vendors, and a children’s arts project area complete the experience.
At the end of the day, judges choose the best dressed Calaca (skeleton), as well as the most memorable altars.
It is truly an unforgettable to experience!
Find out more about our next Dia de Los Muertos celebration.
The History of Dia de Los Muertos at Hollywood Forever
On Dia de Los Muertos, tradition holds that the dead return to earth to visit their living relatives. Offerings and altars are created to welcome and commemorate the dead. A profusion of candles dispels the darkness, just as the souls are being illuminated from the shadows of death. Altars are created with photos, mementos, fruit, bread, and other favorite things of the ancestors, so that they feel welcomed and honored.
Dia de los Muertos at Hollywood Forever cemetery was created to provide an authentic venue, in which this ancient tradition could be genuinely observed and celebrated. Home to the oldest memorial park in Hollywood dating back to 1899, Hollywood Forever hosts the largest Dia de Los Muertos celebration in the United States.
Hollywood Forever is genuinely focused on striving to bestow a memorable occasion by embracing the celebratory process of death and dying by providing a historically authentic cultural setting for this festive event and sacred observance.
Learn more about Dia de Los Muertos at Hollywood Forever.
