Commemorate Memorial Day With Music & History This Weekend At Green-Wood Cemetery

Kick off summer and commemorate Memorial Day at Green-Wood Cemetery this weekend, where, in addition to their annual concert, they’ll be hosting a nighttime event to honor the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.

The weekend starts off on Saturday, May 23 from 6pm-midnight, when, for one night only, the cemetery will commemorate the end of the Civil War with an event featuring period music and games, cooking demonstrations, and re-enactors in Green-Wood’s meadow. Then after the sun has set, visitors will join the Grand Procession past 5,000 candle luminaries — one marking each grave of a Civil War soldier interred there — led by cavalry horses, musicians, uniformed re-enactors, and a period artillery troop firing salute.

Following the procession, visitors will have the unique opportunity to stroll the grounds until midnight — you can check out their current Civicl War exhibition; see a special artistic interpretation of the statistics, numbers, and information on the 5,000 Civil War soldiers interred at the cemetery, which will be on display for one night in the Catacombs; and more.

See more information about the event here; tickets, which cost $20 for members and $25 for non-members, can be purchased online.

Then on Monday, May 25, join the cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day in their annual tradition which starts at 11am with a march, featuring re-enactors and musicians in a parade to Green-Wood’s Civil War Soldiers’ Lot for a ceremony including remarks, a names recitation by decendants of Civil War veterans, an artillery salute, and more. The big concert by the ISO Symphonic Band begins at 2:30pm. Both the parade and the concert are free, but consider registering your group so they can gauge response. Food and refreshments will be available for sale.

After the concert, Green-Wood historian Jeff Richman will give a special trolley tour ($10 for members of Green-Wood /$15 for nonmembers), which you can register for online here.