Day of the Dead Festival

Festival Dia de Muertos 2025

The Veronica Robles Cultural Center (VROCC) proudly presents the 2025 Día de Muertos Official Celebration in collaboration with the Mexican Consulate in Boston, the City of Boston, the City of Chelsea, and the ICA Watershed. This event is New England’s largest multi-day, multi-site Day of the Dead celebration, featuring a month-long series of activities leading up to the official observance on November 1st and 2nd. This year marks VROCC’s 13th year honoring this rich tradition as an established nonprofit organization.

The celebration includes a variety of immersive activities honoring ancestors and deceased loved ones:

  • Art-making workshops
  • Lectures and the Night of the Catrinas, featuring a costume contest
  • Altar exhibitions at the ICA Watershed, with guided experiences honoring organ donors in partnership with New England Donor Services (NEDS)
  • A community altar at Chelsea City Hall Plaza, installed by community members on October 25th and on display until November 2nd
Dia de muertos celebration 2024

The full celebration schedule is here:

papel picado workshop
  • Monday´s and Wednesday´s October 6th through October 15th

Mexican Papel Picado Decoration and Flower Making Workshop

Dates & Locations:

  • Monday, October 6 | Williams Building, 180 Walnut Street, Chelsea, MA
  • Wednesday, October 8 & Wednesday, October 15 | Williams Building, 180 Walnut Street, Chelsea, MA
  • Monday, October 13 | 282 Meridian St., East Boston

Free and open to all

  • 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Register here
Cardboard Sculpture making
  • Tuesday and Thursday October 7th - October 16th

Cardboard Sculpture making

  • Tuesdays , October 7th, October 14th, October 21st
  • Location: Tuesdays – Chelsea Public Library  500 Broadway, Chelsea, MA 02150
  •  Thursday October 9th, October 16th, October 23rd
  • Location: Thursdays – La Colaborativa 63, Six, Chelsea, MA
  • 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Register here
  • Tuesday, October 14th

Sugar skulls making

Let’s celebrate Día de los Muertos together by creating beautiful Sugar Skulls in a unique experience filled with tradition, art, and community!

Bring your family and friends to learn about this beautiful Mexican tradition while decorating your own sugar skulls. It’ll be an evening full of creativity, culture, and sweetness!

  • 💵 Cost: $5 per person
  • 📍 Location: KmkCakes Bakery & Cafe – 173 Washington Ave, Chelsea
  • 6:00 pm - 8:00pm
Tickets here
  • Saturday, October 18th

Noche de Catrinas - 21 + celebration

Lightshow, Catrina Contest and Calaveritas literarias Literarias workshop (spoken word open mic), live bands, dance, face painting, food vendors and cash bar.

  • 💵 Cover: $20
  • 📍 Location: 282 Meridian St., East Boston
  • 🔞 Ages: 21+ celebration
  • 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Tickets here
  • Saturday, October 25th and November 2nd

Ofrenda/ Altar installation - Chelsea

  • Chelsea City Hall Plaza, 500 Broadway, Chelsea
  • Date: Saturday 25
  • Time: 10am  a 3pm  
  • Location:  Chelsea City Hall Plaza, 500 Broadway, Chelsea
  • Breakdown: Sunday, November 2nd – 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
  • 10am  a 3pm
Register here
  • Tuesday, October 28th

Lecture about the Day of the Dead by Dr. Raquel Urroz, from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at UNAM

  • Chelsea Public Library - 500 Broadway, Chelsea, MA 02150
  • Date: Tuesday, October 28 th 
  • Time: 6:00pm – 7:30pm 
  • Location:  Chelsea Public Library
  • 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Register here
  • Thursday, October 30th

Pan de Muerto Baking Workshop

  • Thursday, October 30th 
  • Time: 6:00 – 10:00 pm 
  • Location: VROCC Kitchen-389 Maverick St 
  • Cost: $75
  • Capacity for 10 people
  • Target: 8+years old
  • 6:00 - 10:00 pm
Tickets here
  • Friday, Oct 31 st

Ofrenda/ Altar installation East Boston

  • Calling all volunteers and artists! 

    Join us for the Ofrenda/Altar Installation in honor of Día de Muertos — a space for community, creativity, and tradition, where together we bring this symbol of memory and culture to life.

    📅 Friday, October 31st
    ⏰ 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
    📍 ICA Watershed, 256 Marginal St., East Boston

  • 10 am - 1:00 pm
Register here
  • Saturday, November 1st.

Ofrenda/ Altar Exhibition East Boston

    • Experience the beauty of tradition, memory, and community at the Ofrenda/Altar Exhibition. Visit, reflect, and honor this powerful cultural celebration with us.

      📅 Saturday, November 1st & Sunday, November 2nd
      ⏰ 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
      📍 ICA Watershed, 256 Marginal St., East Boston
      💵 FREE & Open to All

  • 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  • Saturday, November 1st.

Día de Muertos Concert: A Tribute to El Divo de Juárez with the Boston Symphony Orchestra featuring Veronica Robles

Celebrate the life and legacy of Juan Gabriel with a powerful evening of music featuring the Boston Symphony Orchestra and special guest Veronica Robles. An unforgettable tribute blending tradition, culture, and the timeless voice of Mexico.

📅 Friday, November 1st
⏰ 7:00 p.m.
📍 Boston Symphony Hall
💵 Tickets: $40 – $70

  • 7:00 p.m.
Tickets here

Sunday, November 2nd

Activity #1

Ofrenda and Exhibition - East Boston

Discover the beauty of tradition and remembrance at the ICA Watershed. Visit the community Ofrenda/Altar installation, a space to honor loved ones and celebrate culture through art and memory.

  • 📅 Friday, November 1st & Saturday, November 2nd
  • ⏰ 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  • 📍 ICA Watershed, 256 Marginal St., East Boston
  • 💵 FREE & Open to the Public

Activity #2

Día de Muertos Festival ✨💀🌼

Join us for a vibrant community celebration filled with tradition, art, and culture! The festival begins with a colorful procession that brings the spirit of Día de Muertos to life.

  • 📅 Saturday, November 2nd
    🕐 Procession starts at 1:00 p.m.
    🎉 Festival: 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
    📍 Winnisimmet Sq. Park, Chelsea 
    💵 FREE & Open to All
Dia de muertos celebration 2024

VENDOR & BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

  • 🎪 Pre-Register Your Business: Join our community marketplace
  • What We’re Looking For: Food vendors, artisans, cultural crafts, traditional music performers
  • Vendor Benefits: Access to engaged community, prime event location, cultural celebration atmosphere
Pre Register here

About the celebration

Cultural Context

VROCC encourages community action for social justice by offering a safe place where individuals, families, and students of all backgrounds interested in fostering, sharing, and celebrating Latino cultures can come together. Through its cultural programming, VROCC helps to elevate the image of immigrant communities in Boston and, since 2013, has served over 400,000 people.

Pilars

Origins:

The Day of the Dead tradition predates the arrival of the Spanish conquerors to the American continent. In different cultures, particularly among the Mexican, it was believed that there was a process to be born and another to die. When the soul leaves the physical body, it must go through a series of tests or dimensions to reach the desired rest. 

Ofrenda

Families and community members commemorate this holiday by creating Ofrendas, (Day of the Dead altars), to honor the lives of their ancestors and deceased loved ones. These altars include photos of loved ones, candles, water, cempasúchil flower or marigold, sweets, salt, food, and more. Each component represents a part of an ancestral journey and cultural celebration to honor life and death. 

La Catrina

This character is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Dia de los Muertos in the modern days. It was created by José Guadalupe Posada, an exceptional painter, caricaturist, engraver, and illustrator born in Aguascalientes in 1852. Posada was famous for his lithographs featuring scenes of death, popular prints, and social caricatures inspired by folklore.

Testimonial

“Participating in one of Veronica Robles Cultural Center’s Día de Los Muertos events in 2024 was an extraordinary experience! We displayed our first Done Vida altar at the altar exhibition, honoring, celebrating, and remembering donor heroes who gave life after passing through organ donation. 

This was impactful not only for our donor families but also for our New England Donor Services staff, transplant recipients, volunteers, and the community at large.

It was a perfect opportunity to intertwine our mission of healing and saving lives through organ and tissue donation with one of the most beautiful Hispanic traditions of remembrance, Día de Los Muertos, a celebration where VROCC does exceptional work every year.“

Ingrid Palacios Multicultural Outreach Program Manager New England Donor Services

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