Every year somebody at the front desk asks us where to see Día de los Muertos done properly in DC, and every year our answer is the same: go to The Wharf on the first Sunday of November. This year that’s Sunday, November 1, from 3 to 6 pm, and it costs nothing.
Celebración Día de los Muertos at The Wharf is put on with Fiesta DC, and it’s a proper afternoon of it. Folk dance groups take over M Street Landing with dances from Baja California, Puebla, Veracruz, Sinaloa and Jalisco. Ballet Folklorico El Tepeyac opens at 3:10, Los Tecuanes de Riverdale do their “Danza de Tecuanes” at 4:00, and Xantolo closes the dance program at 5:20. Over at The Grove there’s live music all afternoon, from La Unica at 3:00 and Sol y Rumba at 4:00 to Mariachi Imperio from 5:30 until 6:30.
The part we’d plan around is the end. As the sun goes down, they hand out LED candles at M Street Landing and everyone walks the waterfront together in a light procession. A long line of little lights moving along the water with mariachi trumpets behind you is a pretty great way to spend a Sunday evening. Wear something bright, or flowers, or a painted face. Kids (and plenty of adults) can get their faces painted and decorate sugar skulls on Recreation Pier while DJ Future plays at the Boathouse Stage.
The details: free, no tickets needed (there’s an optional RSVP on The Wharf’s Facebook page). There are Modelo beer gardens if you’re 21+, and Giant Food is handing out snacks. One insider tip: the clocks go back an hour that Sunday morning, so it gets dark earlier than your body expects. If you want to catch the procession, be at M Street Landing by about 5.
Getting there from the hostel: walk to U Street station (U St/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo), hop on a Green Line train toward Branch Ave and ride it straight to Waterfront. No transfers. The Wharf is about a five-minute walk from the station. Grab a coffee and an empanada at Brew On U downstairs before you go, because the beer garden lines get long.
More to do this week
- John Summit on Halloween, Sat Oct 31. The house DJ brings his CTRL ESCAPE arena tour to Capital One Arena, with Chromeo (DJ set) and Mesto opening. Doors 6 pm, show 7 pm. Green or Yellow Line from U Street to Gallery Place. Tickets
- Ghosts of Georgetown, Sat Oct 31. DC by Foot runs an 8 pm ghost tour that finishes at the Exorcist Steps around 9:30, right as a free haunted light show lights them up. Details
- Halloween at the DAR Museum, Sat Oct 31. Free crafts (spooky luminaries, printmaking) and a scavenger hunt through the period rooms, 10:30 am to 2:30 pm at 1776 D St NW. Costumes encouraged, walk-ins welcome. Details
- Asia After Dark: Diwali, Fri Nov 6. The National Museum of Asian Art stays open 5 to 9 pm for a free Diwali night: food stalls, rangoli and diya crafts, classical Indian dance and a DJ dance party at the end. Registration is recommended but not required. Register
Got friends flying in for Halloween weekend? We’ve got capsules: book direct with us here. See you on the Green Line.
Top photo: Emillia Doez / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) (source)