The Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy runs a variety of public and private events throughout the year. Public Tours, both walking and trolley, are scheduled during the Spring, Summer and Fall. Public Events are held either in-person or online. Private Tours can be booked upon request. Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to learn what’s coming up.
Tours & Events
Woodlawn’s Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebration
Saturday, April 25, 2026, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Woodlawn is a Level II Arboretum with more than 6,000 trees and shrubs located throughout Woodlawn’s 400 acres. Come celebrate the earth and the trees with an afternoon of family fun. The day will include Bird Walks, Tree Tours, Face Painting, Tree Plantings, and arts and crafts. Admission is free but registration is required.
To register, please click here.
Woodlawn’s Jazz Heritage Tour
Sunday, April 26, 2026, 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM
Woodlawn Cemetery is known for its famous “Jazz Corner” where many of the jazz greats are at rest. This tour will view the unique monuments and celebrate the legacies of Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Illinois Jacquet and many other jazz notables. Your guide will jazz musician Peter Anderson.
Your guide for this tour will be playing all your favorite jazz hits as you navigate throughout the cemetery, creating an immersive and educational jazz experience.
Peter Anderson is one of the most extraordinary jazz woodwind players today. Born and raised in Washington D.C., Anderson moved to New York City to attend The Juilliard School. He has performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Paquito D’Rivera, Wynton Marsalis, and can be heard on the 2014 Grammy-winning soundtrack of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire with Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks. He’s has headlined at Carnegie Hall, The Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Feinstein’s 54 Below, Blues Alley, Birdland, and live on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion Radio Program. Peter Andreson has performed in over 40 U.S. states, throughout Brazil, Japan, the U.K., and six times in NYC’s famed Highlights in Jazz series, alongside Lou Donaldson, Jimmy and Tootie Heath, Ken Peplowski, Steve Turre, Warren Vache, Frank Vignola, and Jimmy Cobb.
For tickets for the 12:00 PM Tour, please click here.
The 2:00 PM Tour is sold out.
Woodlawn’s Spring Flowering Tree Tour
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM
The Woodlawn Cemetery is a Level II Arboretum with more than 6,000 Species of trees and shrubs. Join us for a trolley tour through the Cemetery to view and learn about Woodlawn’s flowering spring trees including Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and Japanese Maples. The tour will be led by Herb Landmann, Project Manager for the Davey Tree Expert Company.
For Tickets for the 12:00 PM tour, please click here.
For Tickets for the 2:00 PM tour, please click here.
Where Harlem Rests – Trolley Tour
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 12:00 PM
Join us for a trolley tour led by Project Historian Eric K. Washington of Where Harlem Rests. This tour, made possible by a grant from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, examines the lives of 25 notable individuals of the Harlem Renaissance. While we are all familiar with the entertainers and writers of the era, this tour features notable business, civic, and religious leaders as well.
For Tickets, please click here.
Nellie Bly Magic Lantern Show
Friday, June 26, 2026, 7:30 PM
Nellie Bly, one of Woodlawn’s notable women, was an investigative journalist and intrepid traveler. She is well known for traveling around the world in 72 days beating the fictional record of Phileas Fogg, the hero of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.
Join us for a Magic Lantern Program based on Nellie Bly’s career and adventures. The magic lantern was the first projector, was first created in the 17th century by the Dutch inventor and scientist Christiaan Huygens (who did not regard it as one of his serious accomplishments!) It was used as a form of popular entertainment from the 17th to the early 20th century.
The program will be presented by Dawn Elliott and Joel Schlemowitz, magic lantern performers, working with original magic lantern glass slides and projectors. Elliott & Schlemowitz perform magic lantern shows and give lecture/demonstrations at museums and other historic, cultural, and educational institutions.
Gates open at 7:30 and the program will begin at 8:30 PM when the sun sets. Early arrivals will be able to visit the grave of Nellie Bly. Interactive toys of the era and light snacks will be provided. Please bring a chair of blanket. Adults $10, Children are free. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
For tickets, please click here.
The Woodlawn Suite – CD Now Available.
The sounds of Madam C. J. Walker strutting down the street, Dorothy Parker raising a glass, and Cicely Tyson whispering to Miles Davis are all part of The Woodlawn Suite, Victor Goines’ 13 movement work celebrating the lives of New Yorkers now at rest within the historic Woodlawn Cemetery. Commissioned by the Woodlawn Conservancy to create a modern memorial, the saxophonist and composer created these biographical sketches that link listeners to the lives of those who impacted our culture. Join Victor and his ensemble of creative musicians to be part of the premier of The Woodlawn Suite. A long-time member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and former director of the Jazz Studies Program at Northwestern University, Goines serves as President and CEO of Jazz St. Louis.
To purchase the CD – please click here.