9th ANNUAL COMMUNITY Altar + EVENT SERIES
Dia De Los Muertos
Sacred Remembering Practices +
Celebrating and Honoring our Beloved Dead
PICTURED: 8th Annual Community Ofrenda and Tree of Life Altars - after community visits & newly built (2025), Calavera cards with the names of our dead (2025), Community Altar (2019), The First Annual Community Ofrenda and Tree of Life (2017),
REGISTRATIONS + SEND A NAME OPEN IN THE FALL
ALL EVENTS FREE
Altar Hours: Mon - Sun. 8AM - 10PM
Altar Address: 1545 McKendrie St., San Jose, CA 95126
DONATIONS ACCEPTED (BUT NOT REQUIRED)
Any donations received help cover the significant annual costs of building and maintaining the community altar (flowers and plants, copal incense, charcoal for the copalera, paper marigold supplies, calavera cards, signage, coloring pages, etc.)
Check the Event Calendar for updates on Dia De Los Muertos events and celebrations. All are welcome to view and use the altar without sign-up.
WHY WE BUILD IT
Altars and ceremonial practices help us connect with deeper meaning. For many years I have practiced Sacred and Ceremonial Arts. Among these practices are the traditions inspired by my Latin-American ancestry; the creation of ancestor altars during the time leading up to and including Dia De Los Muertos (October-November). These “ofrendas” and practices originated in pre-colonial indigenous cultures and are built today to remember our beloved dead and our ancestors; to ceremonially and ritually honor and invite them into our lives, and occupy a place of honor in our homes. This is a time of joyful celebration of the interconnectedness of life and death and of our continued connection to those we hold in our hearts. For many years our family ofrenda remained a private practice and held its place of honor in my home. Upon the urging of my youngest daughter and the requests of others, I began offering this sacred remembering-practice to my greater community with the building and tending of a public altera and ofrenda in my front yard for family, friends, neighbors, and strangers to participate in and interact with in the ways they felt called to. The altar has been a community tradition for many years and all are invited to write messages or the names of their beloved dead, place images and offerings on the altar, spend time in meditation, celebration, story-telling, prayer, song, or other forms of practice that brings them closer to the memory of their loved ones. Offerings left after the disassembly of the altar are blessed and tended to. Items that can be are ritually burned and released as prayers on the smoke of a ceremonial fire and sacred copal, those that can not are blessed and respectfully donated or disposed of. This community altar has become a gathering place for people to share, a bridge between cultures and generations, and a beautiful and magical space for all. I am honored and humbled by the way this offering of living history is embraced by the community and the ways in which it evolves to meet their needs and capacities.
OCTOBER - NOVEMBER EVENTS
PAPER MARIGOLD FLOWER MAKING
FREE EVENT
Sunday, 12:00 PM
October 17, 2027
1545 McKendrie St., San Jose, CA 95126
Dia de los Muertos altars take diverse forms and the traditions vary across regions and villages. There are, however, common themes and threads that run throughout many of the ofrendas and festivities. One notable element is the cempaxochitl/cempazúchitl (marigold flower), an essential part of most Dia de los Muertos altars since pre-columbian times. These flowers are used to form real and metaphorical gateways, caminos (paths for the departed souls to follow home to us), floral murals, and symbols lending beauty, color, and fragrance to our altars.
We gather every October to make the many paper marigolds that will later be used to decorate the community ofrenda and for ourselves (take one home for your own remembering practice). This is a wonderful day of fun and crafting and is an opportunity to connect with old friends, make new ones, and learn about some of the traditions and practices of Dia De Los Muertos. All materials are provided.
All are welcome (Family Friendly)
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Sign-up necessary for planning purposes.
REGISTRATION OPENS OCTOBER 1
VISITING THE ALTAR +
FREE EVENT
Every Day: 8am - 10pm
October 26 - November 7, 2026
October 24 - November 6, 2027
1545 McKendrie St., San Jose, CA 95126
Come. Bring your friends and family. Remember and honor your beloved dead. This is your altar.
There are innumerable ways and opportunities to participate and the Ofrenda is accessible to all, for the entire duration of the event, from the October assembly through the November fire ceremony (weather permitting) and includes both a traditional Dia de los Muertos altar and our non-traditional Tree of Life. Please be mindful that the altar is in our yard. Respectful participation and contemplation are encouraged without time-limits (altar lights extinguish at 10:00PM, but you may quietly visit it afterwards, if you wish to. No permission necessary. Sign-ups are necessary for planning purposes only if participating in paper flower crafting or disassembly/fire (max 15 people/event, due to physical space limitations). Please join us; many hands and hearts make the greatest magic. Our community is not defined by geographical-space but by heart-space and we welcome you into ours.
Please note that the altar is outside and accessible to the public. Use offerings and remembrance items you are comfortable leaving in the elements, unguarded. If it is important to you that your item be part of the closing Fire Ceremony, please note that laminated items and items otherwise unsuitable for burning cannot go into the Ritual Fire. Please collect any personal items you wish to keep by the day before the Fire Ceremony or join us at 12:00PM on Nov. 8, 2026, as we unite for the loving disassembly of the altar and closing ritual fire (sign-up necessary), in the culmination of our annual remembering practice.
This is a family-friendly, inclusive, loving, safer space. If an offering is deemed inappropriate it will be removed, blessed, and respectfully disposed of.
No Sign Up Necessary
SEND A NAME +
FREE
October 1 - November 8, 2026, 11AM
October 1 - November 6, 2027, 11AM
We observe Dia de los Angelitos + Dia de los Muertos on Nov. 1 - 2
Our community is not defined by geography and you are welcome into ours. Those unable to visit the ofrenda in person are invited to send names, photographs, objects, poems, and other appropriate items for inclusion in the community ofrenda and/or Tree of Life (please specify your preference). Items that cannot be sent digitally may be mailed via carrier of your choice. These will be lovingly added among our beloved dead. Please send only what you do not need returned as I am unable to return items after the ofrenda space is closed. We observe Dia de los Muertos on Nov. 1 & 2, but names are accepted until 11:00AM on Nov. 8, 2026, when we disassemble the altar and hold our closing ceremony and ritual fire, speaking the names of the dead, and sending our love and prayers on the smoke of our fire and sacred copal.
This is a family-friendly, inclusive, loving, safer space. If an offering is deemed inappropriate it will be removed, blessed, and respectfully disposed of.
Mailing Address:
Natalia Ronstadt Chang
1545 McKendrie St., San Jose, CA 95126
ALTAR DISSASEMBLY + CLOSING CEREMONIAL FIRE
FREE EVENT
Sunday, 12:00 PM
November 8, 2026
November 7, 2027
1545 McKendrie St., San jose, CA 95126
Together, we lovingly disassemble the altar space and pack the items used in the altar. Once we complete this work, we gather around our ceremonial fire, speak the names of the dead, and burn offerings left on the altar. We use herbs and sacred copal resin (a traditional offering) to send our prayers and blessings upon the smoke as we bid our beloved dead farewell until we reunite at our altars, next year. We share tears and laughter as a community. The fire ceremony is not a traditional Dia de los Muertos practice. It is a practice I used with my own ofrenda before I began offering and tending the community ofrenda, and it has endured as a meaningful part of our community tradition.
Please plan to stay for the duration of the event. If your time is limited we appreciate and welcome your participation in the disassembly and will say our goodbyes before the start of the fire ceremony. Once we set the ritual space for our fire, we ask that you remain through the closing of the ceremony, as we hold and work in sacred space together.
This event is family friendly and all are welcome.
Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Duration of event depends on number of participants and how efficiently we disassemble the altar space.
REGISTRATION OPENS OCTOBER 1
GUIDE +
Remembering Our Beloved Dead: building a personal altar and remembering practice
RESOURCES +
Dia De Los Muertos resources and book list: a collection of book suggestions curated by sister-altar-builder Natasha Bodorff, Boulder, CO
SEND A NAME +
Our Community is not defined by geography. If you wish to be a part of this practice but cannot do so in person you may send names of your beloved dead and they will be included in our altar.
CALAVERAS +
Learn the art and tradition of Mexican sugar skull calavera painting. Create a beautiful, durable, and meaningful symbol of a departed loved one or ancestor for your personal remembering practice.
CLOSING CEREMONY +
Gather in community to lovingly diassemble the community altar and close the annual practice with our fire ceremony. We will speak the names of the dead and send them upon the smoke of our fire and sacred copal. What is remembered lives.