At 6 p.m. tonight, organizers will unveil a large communal altar in the Riverview-Fisk Park gazebo. Last year's ofrenda was covered in marigolds, framed photos and skeletons, with the New York City skyline behind it. The change this year comes on Sunday. When the giant skeleton puppets leave the park, the Riverview Farmers Market says the parade will "expand through the Heights to Central Avenue."
That route change fits a pattern you can follow through the whole market calendar. Riverview-Fisk Park, on Palisade Avenue between Bowers and Griffith Streets, is where Heights traditions and Heights businesses get started. Once they get big enough, they move out into the rest of the neighborhood.
The Parade Route Finally Reaches the Avenue
This is the 12th annual Jersey City Day of the Dead Festival. The Riverview Farmers Market hosts it, and the market is run by the local nonprofit Farms in the Heights. Santiago Cohen has been the parade's artistic director since 2014. He's a Mexican American artist and author who has worked as a designer, illustrator and animator for HBO, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and PBS, and he has written and illustrated more than 20 children's books and graphic novels. The hand-built skeleton puppets that lead the march are his.
According to the organizers, last year's festival brought hundreds of people together. There were puppet parades around Riverview-Fisk Park, traditional dance by Sueño Americano, live music from El Mariachi Oro de Mexico, and the first La Catrina Costume Contest. NorthJersey.com's photo gallery from November 2, 2025 shows the puppet parade, the costume contest and the ofrenda.
For 2026, the market is working with the Central Avenue Special Improvement District, known as CASID, to spread the festival beyond the park. Watch for decorative banners along Central Avenue, skeleton puppets in storefront windows, and food, drink and craft activations at local businesses. To see which shops are taking part, walk the avenue this week and check the windows.
The festival had already started reaching beyond the park in early October. The JCAST Art Show at Tres Chilitos opened October 2. Athena Toledo curated it, and it featured Día de los Muertos artwork alongside pieces by local young artists. On October 4, 11 and 18, artist Jerry Alba of Punk Cat Press ran mobile block printing at the market, and people made custom tote bags, shirts and frame crafts.
Thursday Night at the Gazebo
The ofrenda unveiling runs tonight, Thursday, October 29, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Riverview-Fisk Park gazebo. Here's the program:
- Traditional dance by Sueño Americano
- Calaverita readings
- A youth theater play by Educational Arts Team students
- An open invitation to place photos and offerings for departed loved ones on the communal altar
The altar is the one part of the weekend that asks something personal of you. If you want to honor someone, bring a printed photo tonight. The unveiling opens a celebration that runs from October 29 through November 1.
Sunday, November 1, Hour by Hour
The main festival is back in Riverview-Fisk Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 1. That's also a regular market Sunday, so the farm stands will be open at the same time. Here's how the morning is laid out:
- 10 a.m. The festival and the market open together in the park. You'll find family craft activities, face painting, and memorial portraits by Athena Toledo.
- 10:45 a.m. Meet at the corner of Bowers Street and Palisade Avenue to pick up a skeleton puppet and join the march. Organizers say everyone is welcome.
- The procession The parade heads through the Heights toward Central Avenue. Contestants in the La Catrina contest march too, and this year's contest has two prize categories, one for individuals and one for groups. You can register through the festival page.
- Through 2 p.m. Mariachi Oro de Mexico plays live music and Sueño Americano performs dances back in the park.
For the full schedule and workshop details, organizers point people to the market's Instagram and the Facebook RSVP page. That's the place to check for last-minute changes on Sunday morning.
Public arts money pays for this programming. The market's Music and Art in the Park series is funded by a New Jersey State Council on the Arts grant, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development, with additional support from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund.
The Market Has Sent Things Out Into the Neighborhood Before
This year's parade route is the clearest example of the park sending something out into the neighborhood, but it isn't the first. Jane's Matcha debuted at the Riverview Farmers Market in the 2024 season as the market's first matcha vendor. Owner Jane Yang started it as a weekend side project. In the market's September 2026 Riverview Roundup, she explained why she set up in this particular park:
"I started serving it at Riverview [Park] because that's the park that I'd go to with my dog and I thought it'd be really fun to bring something that I really enjoyed to the community where I lived."
Yang told the market's newsletter that the business grew mostly by word of mouth among people who live in the Heights. "It became like a weekly routine for them," she said. Jane's Matcha worked its last Sunday at the market on August 9 and now has its own shop at 93 Franklin Street in the Heights. The store takes its inspiration from Japanese tea shops and serves an expanded menu of treats.
New vendors have taken over the tent spaces. Ritual House now serves matcha at Riverview and also sells at the Hamilton Park and Cole Street farmers markets. Its menu includes The Golden Hour, made with miso maple syrup, and The Afterglow, made with strawberry and cherry puree. Jersey Artisan Co is the new cheese vendor. It's rooted in Italian heritage and makes its cheese with locally sourced ingredients at a facility in Whippany.
The market itself started out as something nobody expected to work. The market's own history says that at a 2010 community meeting, a resident told the founders a farmers market couldn't survive in Jersey City Heights because "the farmers would never come out here." More than 15 years later, it runs every Sunday from May through November. This August, its 13th annual Peach Pie Contest drew a record 25 entries from amateur bakers.
Four Sundays Left, Then December
After the parade, the outdoor season gets shorter quickly. Here's what's left on the calendar:
| Date | What's happening | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Nov 1 | Day of the Dead festival and market | Riverview-Fisk Park | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Sun, Nov 8 and Nov 15 | Regular market Sundays | Riverview-Fisk Park | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Sun, Nov 22 | Final market Sunday of 2026 | Riverview-Fisk Park | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| November, date TBA | Charlie Heger Ice Rink opens | Pershing Field | Fri 4–7:30 p.m., Sat–Sun 2–7:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Heights Holiday Market | Riverview-Fisk Park | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
The market runs rain or shine, so a gray November Sunday still counts. The Jersey City Recreation facility page lists the Pershing Field rink opening as "November 2026" without a specific day. Check that page before you plan a first skate.
The Holiday Market follows the same growth pattern as everything else on this list. Farms in the Heights launched it in 2022. In 2023, the market's announcement promised 80+ local vendors. For Saturday, December 5, 2026, organizers expect 150+ makers, artists, food businesses and small businesses, and they say more than half of their vendors return the following year. In three years, the event has nearly doubled its lineup without leaving the park.
If this weekend is your first time marching with a puppet, or you're just stopping by Central Avenue to look at the windows, I'd love to hear which storefront displays catch your eye. I put together Heights neighborhood notes like these all year, and I'm always glad to share what I'm seeing on these blocks. Let's Connect through Sonia Dasilva.
