Capitol Hill's Congressional Cemetery, the grave site for many lawmakers in the United States, has become a hotspot for holding events and other activities.
Last September, the site screened an Alfred Hitchcock movie to the public and also held other events at the beginning of October. From a pet adoption event for black cats and dogs, to a marathon dubbed "Dead Man's Run," to concerts held inside the cemetery's chapel, Capitol Hill's Congressional Cemetery has become the "hippest" cemetery in America, according to The Washington Post.
On Monday evenings, the chapel is filled with yoga enthusiasts for their weekly "Yogi Mortis" classes, where participants pay $10, the suggested donation, according to Popville. Nearby, there's an area where cemetery visitors can purchase "Rest In Bees" honey, which nets $3,000 annually, according to the Washingtonian.
These exceptional ideas are just some of the ways the cemetery hopes to make money, but it's not the only grave site that is holding events that have nothing to do with the dead.
"We either call them our sister cemeteries or our nemeses, because sometimes they come up with a more clever name for a movie night than we do and they use it first," said the cemetery's president Paul Williams in the Washington Post report.
In Chicago, the Bohemian National Cemetery also held a movie screening of the horror film "Sinister" in August, according to NBC Chicago. It was staged as a picnic and guests were given blankets as they sat and watched the movie.
Last June, the Oakland Cemetery hosted its fifth annual "Tunes From the Tombs" music festival, which features homegrown talents. Those who watched were also able to score a "Rock In Peace" (RIP) bag for $100, which included food and drink tickets, commemorative items and a chance to mingle with the performers, according to Oakland Cemetery.
"It's a trend for a lot of historic cemeteries," said Lucy Goddin, the president of Alexandria's Ivy Hill Cemetery Historical Preservation Society, in the Post report. "They're having to start getting creative in getting people there for reasons other than dying."
