{"id":377581,"date":"2026-10-20T03:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T03:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377581\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T03:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T03:45:07","slug":"new-york-botanical-garden-brings-day-of-the-dead-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377581\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Botanical Garden Brings Day of the Dead Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"Visitors to the New York Botanical Garden\u2019s D\u00eda de los Muertos installation take in colorful altars, flowers, calaveras, and a towering Catrina figure honoring the Mexican tradition of remembering deceased loved ones. (Photos: Katie Vasquez)<\/p>\n

BRONX \u2014 D\u00eda de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is being celebrated at a New York destination that\u2018s full of life. \u00a0
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On Oct. 3, the New York Botanical Garden debuted a month\u2013long artistic and floral installation inspired by Mexico\u2019s beloved holiday honoring the lives and memories of departed loved ones. \u00a0
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Visitors can explore a garden adorned with traditional symbols of the holiday, including artfully arranged calaveras, a massive Catrina figure and a colorful community ofrenda, or altar of remembrance.\u00a0
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\u201cThe ofrenda is a space for visitors to bring something to honor and recognize their loved one,\u201d said Helena LaPorte-Burns, director of public programming at the New York Botanical Garden. \u201cA lot of the way that\u2019s done is through, like, offerings of food or photographs.\u201d\u00a0
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Richard Heredia of Long Island City said the installation offered an opportunity to honor his mother, whose birthday fell on the day he visited.\u00a0
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\u201cI lost my mom recently, a couple of years ago,\u201d Heredia said. \u201cToday actually would have been her birthday, so I wanted to just be a little closer to her.\u201d\u00a0
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RELATED: 20 Years On, Young Dancers Find a \u2018Piece of Mexico\u2019 at Calpulli\u2019s Community Program<\/a><\/p>\n

Through Nov. 2, visitors are encouraged to bring copies of photos or other mementos to leave at the installation. Those who do not bring items from home can create their own offerings using materials available at a nearby remembrance table.\u00a0
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Heredia said the holiday offers a way to celebrate his mother\u2018s life rather than focus solely on the sadness of her death.\u00a0
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\u201cDeath isn\u2019t so sad. It\u2019s a celebration of life,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd so that\u2019s what I wanted to be here and see it and kind of just, you know, feel her energy with me today.\u201d\u00a0
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Rooted in the traditions of Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica, D\u00eda de los Muertos dates back thousands of years. People observe the holiday annually on Nov. 1 \u2014 All Saints Day \u2014 and Nov. 2 \u2014 All Souls Day. \u00a0
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According to tradition, the boundary between the spirit world and the physical world dissolves during this time, allowing the souls of the dead to return and reunite with loved ones through food, drink, dancing, and music. \u00a0
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Lizzette Mantilla, another visitor, said she was drawn to the installation because it offers a space to reflect on loss while keeping loved ones\u2019 memories alive. \u00a0
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\u201cDeath has its phase, right. It\u2019s a grief phase. But it\u2019s also an opportunity to stop and remember and keep them always with us,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, I appreciate that there is a time on the calendar where we can just take a moment to slow down and remember those who are not with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The monthlong exhibit, which runs through Nov. 2, invites guests to leave photos, mementos, or handmade offerings at a community ofrenda .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors to the New York Botanical Garden\u2019s D\u00eda de los Muertos installation take in colorful altars, flowers, calaveras,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,2096,1151,10072,138813,2106,9,641,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-377581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-day-of-the-dead","tag-dia-de-los-muertos","tag-hispanic-heritage-month","tag-mexican-history","tag-mexico","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-botanical-garden","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}