About this Event
Presented by Self Help Graphics & Art in partnership with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the National Museum of the American Latino
Self Help Graphics & Art | Outdoors
1300 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90033
* Outdoors on the block of Anderson Street, right outside Self Help Graphics & Art’s Boyle Heights building
Self Help Graphics & Art is excited to announce that its 53rd Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration will take place just outside our Boyle Heights home, block party style, on Saturday, November 7, 2026! While we will reopen our doors in 2027, join us as we begin our homecoming to our Boyle Heights neighborhood.
Self Help Graphics & Art’s 53rd Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration will start with a procession at 2 PM, led by Grupo Chicomecoatl. Join us as we continue this longtime tradition and walk from Mariachi Plaza (1831 E 1st St, Los Angeles, CA) to our permanent home on the corner of 1st Street and Anderson Street, where the celebration will take place outdoors on the block of Anderson Street from 3-10 PM.
This communal gathering will feature live music and dance as ofrendas (offerings) to our ancestors, community altars of remembrance and resistance by local community members, Muertos Market featuring local artists and artisans, Self Help Graphics prints for sale, local food vendors, face painting, art activities, and more!
This year, Self Help Graphics & Art is honored to participate in Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals, a community of festivals across the country showcasing the nation’s remarkable cultural landscape. This partnership brings the spirit of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival—the institution’s largest and longest-running event— to community festivals in several states and territories across the country. As one of the longest-running public celebrations of Día de los Muertos in the United States, this year’s celebration stays true to its social justice roots. We honor our ancestors and uplift the living communities they nurtured through immersive, intercultural programming — free and for all-ages.
MAIN STAGE
[ 3 PM - 10 PM]
This year’s celebration features a performance lineup curated by Grammy Award winning Chicane producer, composer, musician, and cultural organizer Quetzal Flores.
FEATURING:
- GRAMMY Award-winning East Los Angeles legends Los Lobos
- GRAMMY Award-winning La Santa Cecilia
- Jimetta Rose and the Voices of Creation
- Extra Ancestral
- Chulita Vinyl Club
- The Red Alibi
- Mendez High School Mariachi
- Grupo Chicomecoatl
STORY SHARING STAGE
[ 3:30 PM - 7 PM]
This year’s celebration features a storytelling stage, where culture stewards honor the legacy of ancestral memory through the art of storytelling.
FEATURING:
- Rosanna Esparza Ahrens
- Virginia Carmelo
- Ofelia Esparza
- Nobuko Miyamoto
- Michael D. McCarty
- Margarita Gonzalez
DROP- IN WORKSHOPS
[ 3 PM - 7 PM]
FEATURING:
- Sugarskull Magnets with the National Museum of the American Latino
- “Memorias y Cuentos” (Memories and Stories), a mobile interview station with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
- Nichos (miniature altars) and jewelry boxes with Izzy Jaquez, SHG Teaching Artist
- "Sombra de Muertos", a Day of the Dead shadow design on paper workshop with Joan Zamora, SHG Teaching Artist
CAMINO DE ALTARES
[ 3 PM - 7 PM]
Historically, our community altars at SHG draw from traditional and contemporary practices and art forms that honor our ancestors and address realities that our communities navigate. This year, our altars touch on these at both a local and global scale. Some altars center recent events felt particularly by our Eastside communities, including the Lineage Fire and ICE raids. Other altars take on a transnational lens: connecting our local struggles to the movement to stop femicides and the fight for land and water fights. Through our altars, we hope community members take time to reflect on ongoing justice movements and honor ancestors highlighted in these installations.
FEATURING:
- Monica Olmos
- Juan Mendoza
- Centro CSO
- Mirella Flores
- Calavera De Oro
- AF3IRM Los Angeles
- Norma y Edgar Coronado
- Colectivo Poder Comunitaro
- Juana Mena Ochoa
- SHG X Eastside LEADS' 2026 Youth Artivists
- Montebello Park Elementary School
- Latinx with Plants
- Boyle Heights Beat/ LA Local
ABOUT SELF HELP GRAPHICS & ART’S 53RD ANNUAL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION
As one of the longest-running public celebrations of Día de los Muertos in the United States, Self Help Graphics & Art is proud to present its 53rd Annual Día de los Muertos Season in partnership with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the National Museum of the American Latino. We honor our ancestors and uplift the living communities they nurtured through immersive, intercultural programming — free and for all-ages.
To learn more about this year’s season, including the Saturday community workshops in October at the East LA Library, and the celebration outside Self Help Graphics & Art on Saturday, November 7, 2026, visit our website: https://www.selfhelpgraphics.com/diadelosmuertos
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.
Event venue & nearby stays
Self Help Graphics & Art, 1300 East 1st Street, Los Angeles, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.