Celebrate Life at Jersey City Day of the Dead 2025

Join us for a city-wide celebration of El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) across Jersey City – Oct 30 through Nov 2, 2025. Hosted by the Riverview Farmers Market.
RSVP to the main event on Facebook or follow us on Instagram for the latest!

Everyone can participate! The crowd carrying giant puppets for the 2024 Día de los Muertos Festival in Jersey City

The Riverview Farmers Market is thrilled to announce that our 11th Annual Jersey City Day of the Dead festival (Sunday, November 2nd, 2025). The festival itself will include a giant skeleton puppet parade, community Ofrenda, La Catrina Contest, music, dancing and a festival at Riverview-Fisk Park. The festivities themselves run all weekend long.

Mariachi Oro de Mexico performing at the Jersey City Day of the Dead Festival 2024

The Weekend of Day of the Dead

There are multiple events happening that weekend including:

The Ofrenda (altar) Unveiling: Thursday, Oct 30, 2025 – 6PM @ Riverview Fisk Park
Speer’s Day of the Dead Market: Saturday, Nov 1, 2025 – 3PM-8PM (timing tbd) at Speer Cemetery
Riverview Farmers Market Día de los Muertos Festival: Sunday, Nov 2, 2025 – 10AM to 2PM
at Riverview Fisk Park

We will construct a large communal memorial altar or ofrenda in the Riverview Park gazebo on Thursday, October 30th, 2025. It will remain standing through the final celebration on November 2nd. On Thursday evening, the market will host a unveiling, including a performance by traditional Mexican dance troupe Sueño Americano at 6 p.m. The Ofrenda is a cornerstone tradition of the holiday where residents can place photos of loved ones that have passed and offerings of food and flowers.

Sunset photo of the Riverview Farmers Market ofrenda before the unveiling in 2024. A black & white painted altar sits on top of an orange table. There are photos and icons of Día de los Muertos all over the table. Small figures represent the famous people who have passed in 2024. The table is also strewn with orange flowers, multicolored gourds and candles. — The ofrenda at last year’s Day of the Dead. The Ofrenda (altar) gets recreated every year to reflect the famous people and celebrities who have passed in that year. The community is welcomed to add to the ofrenda to honor their own loved ones.

On Saturday, Riverview Farmers Market is partnering with Speer Cemetery – across town in Bergen Square – for their Day of the Dead artisan market and community gathering. We’ll be supporting the Cemetery in their traditions of remembrance, and their own unique celebration. Join us there on Saturday, November 1st, 2025. They’ll have artisan sellers, dancing, arts & crafts and more.

Dancers from Sueño Americano posing with Santiago Cohen and Athena Toledo in last year’s Speer Cemetery event.

THE MAIN EVENT FOR Día de los Muertos

On Sunday, November 2nd, it’s our core Día de los Muertos festival. We host a skeleton puppet parade around the park beginning at Noon. We invite the public to add to our community Ofrenda with photos and memories of their loved one. In addition to giant puppets and the beautiful altar, Sunday’s festivities will include live music from Mariachi Oro de Mexico, dance performances by Sueño Americano, poetry and story readings, face painting, bubbles, juggling, crafts and entertainment for the whole family. New this year, we will also be hosting a La Catrina Contest. Entrants must register by 11:30 a.m. at the main tent and join the parade procession to participate. Details and official rules can be found here.

We anticipate that the Riverview Neighborhood Association will continue their tradition of hosting their annual Pet Costume Contest that day – timing TBA.

The view from the stage at last year’s Día de los Muertos festival in Jersey City – Mariachi Oro de Mexico performing for the crowd.

The event is a partnership with local Mexican-American artist Santiago Cohen, who is the visionary behind the giant puppets, as well as our ofrenda. He builds the altar anew each year – incorporating celebrities and community pillars who have passed. Cohen also crafts the large puppets you see by hand in his local studio. To engage the community, he provides DIY kits to allow anyone to build their own puppets for the event. These kits will be available through the market and local workshops.

“This is a holiday that belongs to everyone,” Cohen says. “Everyone has a loving person in their lives that they have lost and this celebration is a way to honor and remember them and bring them to your life again. To me, that is the most important part.”

Santiago Cohen, Artistic Director of the Día de los Muertos Festival in Jersey City,
in his Heights studio with some of the new puppets he created for the event.

Each year, more and more of the Jersey City community has embraced the Market’s celebration of Meso-American culture. As the main weekend nears, we’ll post more information about which local businesses are participating, and what activities & events they each have planned.

Originating with the Aztec people, El Día de los Muertos is a two day holiday, traditionally held on November 1 and 2. It is a traditional fiesta in honor of the deceased that is celebrated in Mexico and parts of Latin America.

Join us in this celebration of life and remembrance of those who have passed! Come to the 11th Annual Día de los Muertos festival in Jersey City Heights. RSVP on Facebook or follow us on Instagram for the latest!

About Riverview Farmers Market
The Riverview Farmers Market is held every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Riverview-Fisk Park, located at Palisade Avenue between Bowers and Griffith Streets, from May through November. It is organized by the local non-profit organization Farms in the Heights and has been serving the Jersey City Heights community with local vendors and free events for more than 15 years.

About Santiago Cohen
Santiago Cohen is a Mexican/American artist and author. He has worked as a designer, illustrator and Animator for HBO, the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and PBS. Santiago has written and illustrated more than 20 children’s books and graphic novels. He has made a successful career in Fine Art, with shows in galleries and Museums in New York, New Jersey, and Mexico. He has been the Artistic Director of the Day of the Dead Parade in Jersey City since 2014.

Santiago had a seminal show for Morris Arts at the Atrium of the Courthouse in the fall 2021. Santiago was one of 26 influential people to have “Great Conversations” in the event organized by Morris Arts in April 2022. He has been an honored participant of the 14C Art Fair of New Jersey since 2022.

About Music & Art in the Park Programming by Riverview Farmers Market
This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development, Craig Guy, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.

SUPPORTED BY PUBLIC FUNDS FROM THE JERSEY CITY ARTS AND CULTURE TRUST FUND.

Riverview Farmers Market and Farms in the Heights appreciate the support of both the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs and the Jersey City Arts & Culture Trust Fund.

Programming supported by: