Día de los Muertos Altar Tour at Grand Park, Oct. 28

Most people walk past the Día de los Muertos altars at Grand Park on a weekend, in a crowd. This Wednesday evening is the quieter version: a guided tour, a spiritual cleansing and an hour of making something with your hands. It is a good pick if you are sorting through things to do in Los Angeles this week and want something with more meaning than a photo stop.

When: Wednesday, October 28, 2026, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Where: Grand Park, 200 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Price: Free

What the evening includes

The program is part of Gloria Molina Grand Park's Downtown Día de los Muertos, which is on view daily from October 24 through November 2, 2026. The night begins with traditional limpias, or spiritual cleansings, offered by the Ohtli Yollotl Curanderismo Collective.

After the cleansings, artist and curator Consuelo G. Flores leads a guided tour of the altars. She frames the tour around the tradition's Indigenous roots in ancient Mexico and follows it through colonization, cultural resistance, migration and Chicano cultural expression in the United States. Each altar becomes a way into how communities remember, mourn, celebrate and heal.

Then comes the hands-on part. Flores leads a paper flower-making workshop where you craft a cempasúchil, the marigold that guides spirits home in the tradition, and take it with you for a personal altar. Cafe Alegria is serving a curated beverage menu, and there is pan dulce for everyone.

Bring a remembrance

Guests are invited to bring a remembrance to add to the community altar in the park. A photograph, a handwritten note or a small keepsake of someone you miss all fit the spirit of it. You are also welcome to stay after the program ends and walk the installation at your own pace.

Planning your visit

Grand Park runs through the Civic Center area of Downtown, close to the Music Center and City Hall. Evenings here are cooler than the afternoon, so bring a light layer, and expect the paper-flower workshop to be sit-down, hands-on work. The source listing marks the event free, though it links to a ticket page, so check the LAist listing below for the current registration details before you head over.

Parking near Grand Avenue fills up on busy nights, so transit or a rideshare is the easier route. The Metro B and D Lines stop at Civic Center/Grand Park, a short walk away.

If this one fits your week, it is one of the more thoughtful things happening in Los Angeles during the run of the installation. Browse more in festivals or see what else is on in Downtown LA.