Día de los Muertos Parade at NYBG

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 cumbiaoriginated 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 cumbiaand 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.

Featured Partners:

Crochet Workshop: Join Carmen Paulino for a workshop offering a welcoming, safe space where beginners and experienced makers can learn, create, and connect. Participants can explore new techniques for crocheting Día de los Muertos designs, learn new stitches, and find inspiration for future projects while keeping their hands busy and their creativity flowing. Carmen Paulino is a New York City-based community fiber artist and crochet instructor known for transforming public spaces through vibrant yarn installations and community-centered art.

Mask Making: Create a one-of-a-kind skull mask with Blanka Amezkua to take home, display, or wear during our Día de los Muertos celebration as we honor memory, heritage, and the enduring connection between generations! Rooted in the belief that the afterlife holds a profound importance alongside life on Earth, the skull serves as a powerful symbol connecting worlds, the living, and those who came before us.

Location:

New York Botanical Garden
2900 Southern Blvd
Bronx, NY 10458-5126