Green-Wood Cemetery Announces Its Fall 2025 Season

The Green-Wood Cemetery has announced its fall 2025 season, featuring performances in the Catacombs, walking and trolley tours, community celebrations, nationally recognized death education programs, and more. Set within one of New York City’s most storied landscapes, the season positions Green-Wood as a place of remembrance and a center for culture and community.

“This season, Green-Wood opens its doors to visitors eager to connect with our rich history and beautiful landscape in fresh ways. We’re passionate about creating experiences that spark curiosity and foster genuine moments of discovery. Whether you’re interested in exploring our past, enjoying our natural beauty, or engaging in thoughtful conversation, we are excited for a new season of programs,” said Harry Weil, Vice President of Education and Programming, The Green-Wood Cemetery.

You can learn about all of the events and programs—and register—at green-wood.com/calendar. Among the highlights on Green-Wood’s 2025 fall calendar:

Arts and Culture

● Paola Prestini: Houses of Zodiac on October 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. A multidisciplinary masterwork by composer Paola Prestini, praised by The Wall Street Journal as an artist “known for pushing the boundaries of classical music.” Presented as part of the Angel’s Share series in partnership with Death of Classical, a story of creation, guilt, and emancipation is brought to life in Green-Wood’s Catacombs by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler (formerly of the Kronos Quartet), and dancers Georgina Pazcoguin (former New York City Ballet soloist) and Dai Matsuoka (Butoh dance master of Sankai Juku).

● Nightfall on October 16th and 17th. Green-Wood’s headlining after-dark event invites visitors to walk the Cemetery’s illuminated pathways to discover a variety of entertainers—including musicians, performance artists, and storytellers—that are sure to delight and amaze. Nightfall is presented in partnership with Death of Classical, Rooftop Films, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Gotham Taxidermy, and Morbid Anatomy.

● Reposo y Recuerdo (“Rest and Remember”) / Día de Muertos Ofrenda, on view from October 11th through November 16th. Transdisciplinary artist Laura Anderson Barbata transforms the landmarked Historic Chapel into an inviting space for reflection and connection through a community ofrenda (altar) featuring handwoven hammocks, each created in collaboration with Mexican artisans using pre-Columbian techniques.

● Day of the Dead Family Celebration on November 1st. Discover the rich history and traditions associated with the holiday Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) through family-friendly crafts, performances, music, activities, and food at this annual Green-Wood tradition and community celebration.

Trolley Tours

The fall slate of Green-Wood’s popular ADA-compliant trolley tours invites visitors to discover the Cemetery’s history, architecture, and hidden gems. This season’s themed tours include:

● Baseball Greats of Green-Wood on September 27th. Visit the monuments of Henry Chadwick, the “Father of Baseball;” James Creighton, baseball’s first national star; Charles Ebbets, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers; and others who shaped America’s national pastime.

● Gay Gothic: Love, Loss, and the Hereafter on October 11th. In celebration of LGBT History Month, explore what death and memorialization have looked like for queer communities throughout Green-Wood’s 187-year history on this tour led by Close Friends Collective.

● Stranger Than Fiction on October 18th. Embark on a journey into the extraordinary, discovering enigmatic characters like “Brooklyn Enigma” Mollie Fancher and spiritualist Anna Leah Fox Underhill.

● Feminism and Fortune Telling: Women of the Lower East Side on October 25th. Delve into the complicated and peculiar life of humor writer Mortimer Thomson and the working-class fortune tellers in New York’s Lower East Side, whom he labeled as “witches.”

● Then and Now: Green-Wood in 3D Trolley Tour on November 8th. Be transported back over 160 years to the Cemetery’s earliest days with 3D images from the 1860s.

● Fame, Fortune, & the Forgotten: The Untold Stories of Victorian Women on October 26th. A celebration of the bold, defiant, and often overlooked women of the nineteenth century, in partnership with the Dead Ladies Show.

● Discover Green-Wood trolley tours take visitors through the Cemetery’s most notable spots on Saturday afternoons throughout the season.

● Revolutionary Spirits on September 13th, October 11th and 25th, and November 1st. Delve into the rich past of distilled spirits in Brooklyn with Green-Wood and our neighbors at Fort Hamilton Distillery. Discover influential figures of the Revolutionary War and distillers who made their mark on the young nation on a trolley tour of the Cemetery, and then travel to nearby Fort Hamilton Distillery in Industry City to experience “white” rye straight off the still.

Walking Tours

Green-Wood’s walking tours offer a variety of experiences for visitors of all ages. Among the highlights:

● Moonlight Tours on September 7th, October 6th, and November 5th. Explore Green-Wood’s historic monuments and unforgettable Catacombs under the glow of the full moon.

● Green-Wood on Wheels: Stroller-Friendly Walking Tours on September 10th and 24th, October 8th and 22nd, and November 5th, 19th, and 28th. A stroller-friendly walk, in partnership with Park Slope Parents, designed for parents and caregivers who want to get outside, meet other families, and enjoy a dash of history along the way.

● PollinaTours of Green-Wood on September 13th. Learn about the rich diversity of wild bee species at Green-Wood (including bumble, carpenter, miner, leaf cutter, sweat, and more) with bee biologist Sarah Kornbluth of the American Museum of Natural History.

● Secrets in Stone on October 26th. Become a detective of the dead as you learn to decode an elaborate language of symbols preserved in stone, shedding light on tales etched into eternity.

● Magicians and Mediums Walking Tour on November 1st. Uncover the curious legacies of Spiritualism and stage magic, two rival worlds that often collided in the nineteenth century, while visiting the graves of figures who dabbled in séances, illusions, and the supernatural.

● Post-Turkey-Day Walking Tour on November 28th. An opportunity to enjoy fall foliage and explore history the day after Thanksgiving.

● Birding in Peace on multiple Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays. Enjoy early morning explorations, suitable for amateur and expert birders alike.

● After Hours on Friday and Saturday evenings throughout the season. Get an exclusive look at the Cemetery (and Catacombs) after dark, once the gates have closed to the public.

Death Education

Green-Wood is a national leader in death education, offering free programs that encourage honest dialogue about mortality, grief, and remembrance. Fall programs include:

● The Art of Goodbye: Romantic Landscapes on September 10th, and The Art of Goodbye: German Expressionism on September 17th. Explore how artists have depicted loss throughout history, from ancient Greek funerary urns to medieval crucifixion altar pieces and haunting World War I trench scenes.

● Notes of Tribute: Viewing the 9/11 Memorial Lights on September 11th. Gather in community to witness the tribute lights over lower Manhattan and remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

● Back to the Earth: Understanding Green Burial on September 28th. A hands-on, three-part program that invites you to explore the philosophy, practice, and artistry of natural burial.

● Death Cafes on Zoom on October 14th and in-person on November 13th and December 16th. Share your anxieties, hopes, curiosities, and questions about deathcare in an open and accepting environment.

● Grieving & Weaving on September 16th, October 8th, November 13th, and December 12th. Enjoy an evening where knitters, crocheters, and crafters of various experience levels get together in the Modern Chapel to share stories, skills, and grief resources.

● Sunday in the Cemetery on December 7th. Engage with grief and death through an educational and supportive lens at this day-long exploration of mortality. The open-house style event brings together leading experts for engaging talks and workshops illuminating end-of-life care, funeral traditions, and memorial arts.

Additional free death education programs are listed at green-wood.com/death-education

About Green-Wood: Established in 1838, The Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark, is recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful cemeteries. As the permanent residence of over 570,000 individuals, Green-Wood’s magnificent grounds, grand architecture, and world-class statuary have made it a destination for half a million visitors annually, including national and international tourists, New Yorkers, and Brooklynites. At the same time, Green-Wood is also an outdoor museum, an arboretum, and a repository of history. Throughout the year, it offers innovative programs in arts and culture, nature and the environment, education, workforce development, restoration, and research, as well as bold initiatives in climate resiliency and sustainability. For more information, please visit www.green-wood.com.