Across Bethnal Green Library, Redbridge Central Library, Columbia Rd and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

In 2025, Let’s Discuss Death worked in partnership with Tower Hamlets Libraries and Idea Stores, Redbridge Library Service and the Tower Hamlets Cemetery park across four days of events which were free for the community.

At Bethnal Green Library, there was a day of free events designed to open up honest conversations about death, dying, and grief. These topics affect us all, yet they often remain unspoken. Our goal was to break down these taboos and create a safe space for discussion and reflection. The afternoon featured a film screening, a talk on end-of-life planning by Ann Kenrick, OBE, and intimate roundtable discussions with a panel of professionals including doctors, funeral professionals and end-of-life doulas for humans and animals.

All three events were well-attended - with an age range of 11-78 in the film audience. The audience included people working in public health or end-of-life care, bereavement specialists and lots of people wanting a space to talk about their own bereavement experiences, or worries about dying and death. Alongside these events, a second room was set up for reflections and refreshments.

Four day festival in 2025

A group of ten diverse women and men standing together indoors, smiling for the camera, in front of a wooden paneled wall and a staircase.
Groups of people seated around tables in a large, elegant room with chandeliers, high ceilings, and wood flooring, attending a discussion or workshop.

Redbridge Libraries were the first death-positive libraries in the country and Let’s Discuss Death was honoured to be part of their family-friendly festival in 2025. We ran a drop-in craft session for families where children and their adults could decorate a cardboard coffin and reflect on how they’d like to be remembered. We also created an anonymous display of wishes - things people wanted to do before they die. There was also an opportunity for people to write down their Words Unspoken. Sometimes there are words we cannot say - either because someone has died, or a relationship has ended. People were able to write these down on anonymous cards. It was very moving to see this display grow over the day.

Two smiling people standing next to a display board filled with colorful Day of the Dead themed decorations, including sugar skulls, butterflies, flowers, and vibrant artwork, inside an elevator.
A group of children and adults in a library at a table covered with colorful arts and crafts supplies, with two women standing near library shelves reading books.


Columbia Road has been home to London’s Day of the Dead festival since 2016. This year, Let’s Discuss Death helped to curate the Mercado in the primary school playground. One half of the playground was stalls run by parents raising money for the primary school. The other half was a range of death-professionals for people to speak to - these included the Natural Death Centre, Compassionate Funerals, St Joseph’s Hospice, Bellacouche and others. Rosie from the Natural Death Centre said it was the best-attended death event she’s been at in 26 years!

Beyond the playground, the street came alive with dance performances by Mexican choreographer, Alondra, a procession led by Mariachi Las Adelitas, and yoga sessions with Anu Kumar, local GP and choreographer. It was a beautiful day of music, dance, colour and remembrance.

A woman at an outdoor booth discussing death with visitors. The booth has a large sign encouraging conversations about dying, death, and grief, with books and pamphlets on a pink tablecloth.
A man wearing a green jacket and a reflective safety vest stands outdoors in a park or cemetery during fall, with trees and grass around him. He is smiling and looking at the camera, with children in the foreground.

The celebrations concluded with a reflective walk at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, led by Ken, the park’s keeper. The focus of the walk was on the unremembered dead and the stories of their lives.

Two women dressed in colorful traditional Mexican clothing and face paint inspired by Día de los Muertos, holding decorated umbrellas and accessories, celebrating outdoors.
Woman with detailed face makeup resembling a Day of the Dead sugar skull, featuring black and blue designs and black eye makeup, wearing a black headband, gold necklace, and black and white striped clothing.
A woman in a colorful traditional Mexican dress performing a dance at a street parade, surrounded by spectators and onlookers.
Child dressed in Day of the Dead skeleton face paint, wearing a black sombrero hat and a white jacket, standing indoors in front of a white paneled door.
Person wearing a painted sugar skull face mask, holding a black skateboard with white writing that says "All Guts No Glory," at a nighttime outdoor event with lanterns in the background.
A group of women wearing traditional Mexican dresses and sombreros playing musical instruments on a city street, with children and other people watching in the background.

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