Día de los Muertos Debuts at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, NYC

The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is hosting its first Día de los Muertos, running October 3 through November 2. The celebration centers on marigold blooms and a community ofrenda, framed as a celebration of memory, life and renewal. Friendly spirit guides lead visitors to artfully arranged calaveras and a larger-than-life Catrina adorned with colorful flowers, set among fall foliage and festive pumpkins.

The ofrenda lets guests add a photograph or a written memory to a shared altar. Everything contributed becomes part of the installation and is not returned. Offerings of food and candles are not permitted.

Weekends carry most of the programming. Blanka Amezkua, a Bronx-based teaching artist and Mexican-American contemporary artist, leads workshops in papel picado, the traditional Mexican art of cut-paper banners, and in making silk flowers that visitors can wear and take home. The sessions run 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends of October 24 and 25, and 1 to 5 p.m. on October 31 and November 2. Her work also draws on medicinal plants and botanical traditions.

Son Pecadores, a collective of jaraneros based in NYC, plays son jarocho at the entrance to the Everett Children's Adventure Garden at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. through October 25. Son jarocho is a folk music and dance tradition from the Mexican state of Veracruz, blending indigenous, Spanish and African influences.

For children, the Everett Children's Adventure Garden runs "Mariposas and Marigolds," with rotating activities such as potting up a marigold and a story trail built around the book The Ofrenda That We Built. On October 31 at 2 p.m., the Bronx Children's Museum leads a storytime of An Ofrenda for Perro, followed by a clay alebrije workshop with modeling clay and watercolors, recommended for ages 4 to 10.

The finale runs October 31 through November 2, with giant hand-made skeleton puppets by artist Lucrecia Novoa moving through the Garden and Mexican folk dance on October 31 and November 2. A parade steps off Sunday, November 1 at 2 p.m. The trail and the Everett Children's Adventure Garden close at 5 p.m. on November 1 and 2.