On a weekend overstuffed with sports and Halloween events , L.A.’s liveliest event had nothing to do with either of those—and everything to do, oddly enough, with a cemetery.
Thousands of Angelenos flocked to Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the landmark’s annual Day of the Dead festival . On Saturday, the grounds of the graveyard were carpeted in marigolds and tea lights and bathed in wisps of incense. Among the cemetery processions and street festivals staged across L.
A. for Día de Los Muertos , Hollywood Forever’s festival stands out for its size and programming: Acres of the cemetery are transformed into illuminated altars and ofrendas to the deceased, while a music-and-dance–filled program brings a mix of bands (including East L.A.
’s own Los Lobos) and Aztec dancers alongside face painters and local artisans. Hollywood Forever marks the Mexican holiday with a different theme each year, and for 2024—its 25th edition—it was “Tonas and Nahuales,” which celebrated the spiritual guides and guardians central to indigenous Mesoamerican cultures. This just might be my favorite annual event in Los Angeles, so you might be surprised to hear that this was my first visit in five years.
Since its post-pandemic return, the festival had been split into two separately ticketed events: a daytime and nighttime session. That meant my favorite time to photograph it—the hour or two before sunset—wasn’t really an option anymore. But thankfully, this year’s event re.
