Community Events

This walk is canceled due to a statewide air quality alert. 

Join us Sunday, July 19 at 10 a.m. for a "greatest hits" tour that will give you an engrossing overview of Elmwood: how and why it was created, who's buried here, and where to find our most iconic works of memorial art. If you've never been to Elmwood, this is the perfect intro. (If you have, we bet you'll still enjoy!) This walking tour will last about two hours. Your expert Elmwood guide is Jacob Jones. It's free to join, but please sign up! Photo by Ally Rooker.

See Elmwood in a new light! Take advantage of our late summer sunsets and join us for a twilight stroll of the cemetery. We'll talk about some of Elmwood's historical highlights after-hours and take in the beauty of the grounds at golden hour. We're offering two twilight walking tours in July and early August:

• Tuesday, July 21, 6 p.m., with Laurie Gonyea
• Saturday, August 1, 7 p.m. with Jacob Jones 

Tours are free, but please sign up! Stay tuned for more evening explorations in August.

This July, America celebrates 250 years since declaring independence from the British crown, and Detroit observes 325 years since Cadillac landed on our shores to found a city for new France. These anniversaries have long been intertwined. Join us for a spin through three centuries of solemn observances and silly celebrations alike, from Evacuation Day to Cadillaqua, the 1976 Bicentennial, the 2001 Detroit Tricentennial and many points in between. Historic Elmwood Foundation Director Amy Elliott Bragg leads the tour. It's free to join, but space is limited, so please sign up! Sunday, July 26 at 10 a.m.  

Join us for a Twilight Death Café at Elmwood, Wednesday, July 29 at 8:00 p.m., led by Kristy Sue Bishop. Bring a blanket and your emotional support beverage (nonalcoholic please!) as we gather beneath the full moon for an evening of thoughtful conversation in one of the Detroit’s most peaceful places.

A Death Café is a welcoming, agenda-free gathering where people come together to talk openly about death, grief, mortality, and what it means to live well. There are no lectures, no therapy, and no expectation to share, just respectful conversation, curiosity, and connection. Whether you're simply curious, have experienced loss, are planning ahead, or wish our culture talked more openly about death, you're welcome here. Come as you are, listen if you'd rather not speak, and join us for meaningful conversation as twilight settles over the cemetery. Free, but please register here.

Elmwood is honored to host a reflective grief and healing experience inviting participants to pause, soften, and prepare for seasonal, emotional, and life transitions. As summer begins moving toward fall, this gathering creates space to honor grief, release tension, and gently reconnect with the body, breath, memory, and hope.   

Through grounding practices, mindful movement, and guided reflection, participants will be invited to soften the body, honor what they are carrying, and create room for healing before the next season begins. This experience is offered by licensed professional counselors Laverne Santangelo and Carmen Rembert with a sound bath by Adrienne Lakes. Thursday, August 6 at 6 p.m. Free, but space is limited, so please register here. 

Join the Detroit Bird Alliance and the Historic Elmwood Foundation for a birding walk at the cemetery! This is a great field trip for birders of all ages and experience levels. We'll walk the grounds to identify the species we see throughout the cemetery and discuss bird migration, habitats and a few Elmwood history highlights. Bring your own binoculars, or Detroit Bird Alliance will have some on-hand to borrow. We will gather in the chapel following the walk for refreshments and discussion. Saturday, August 9 at 8:30 a.m. Register with the Detroit Bird Alliance at their Eventbrite. 

Elmwood Cemetery has been integrated since its founding in 1846, making it one of the oldest integrated cemeteries in the Midwest and a rich site of Detroit’s Black heritage. Join Jamon Jordan, Official Historian for the City of Detroit, for a captivating walking tour as he shares stories from 200 years of Black history. From abolitionists William Lambert and George DeBaptiste to Mayor Coleman Young and Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg, we’ll visit notable Black leaders, luminaries, activists, entrepreneurs, artists and more who made Detroit the city it is today. August 15 at 11 a.m. The tour is free, but please sign up here!