Press "Enter" to skip to content

Cemetery Fundraiser Looks on the Sunnyside


Movies often depict cemeteries in various states of disrepair, and novels may suggest the same, when a graveyard or tombstone-laden location is required in the plot.

But here on this side of the screen and page?

We prefer that our city’s cemeteries remain in good order. We like when the marble monuments and stately headstones and walkways and benches and flower beds stay lovely and well-kept.

And, above all, we want these special places to pay beautiful tribute to the memories of those people who have been laid to rest behind a cemetery’s gate.

Sunnyside Cemetery has been paying such respectful tribute for decades now, and, as Long Beach’s oldest cemetery, it has become an essential and emotion-filled cornerstone of the community.

That community, and anyone from beyond Long Beach eager to support Sunnyside, will gather there on Saturday, June 30 for A Celebration of Sunnyside Cemetery.

It’s a 21-and-over fundraiser for the historic site, and it will take place in the afternoon, beginning at 12 o’clock.

A regular general admission ticket is $45, plus a small fee, and you can know that you’ll be helping out this handsome and hallowed place.

A place that will brim with conversation and libations and art and a love of life on June 30. Festival Obscura is presenting the first-ever celebration, along with Sunnyside Cemetery, and attendees can expect a host of craft breweries, and cideries, wineries, coffee pros, and food to buy, too.

Look also for “20+ local macabre artists & musicians, local historians, authors & morticians” to appear at the 112-year-old spread.

Cemeteries are repositories of so many life stories, tender recollections, and moments of peace.

Keeping these important places in fine form falls to those of us on this side of the veil, and it is a mantle we should readily assume with respect and pride.

Is Sunnyside someplace you know well? Do you have a connection to one of the “16,300 Long Beach souls who helped shape the city we know and love,” the souls now at rest within the cemetery’s borders?

Do you want to support one of our region’s most history-laden cemeteries? Here’s how.

Photo Credit: Martin Svab
Source: NBC Los Angeles

Be First to Comment

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *