The Old City Cemetery Lantern Tours return with a theme that could double as a 19th-century tabloid: “Grifters, Graft, and Greed.” You will trail a lantern-lit path through true tales of slippery fingers and silver tongues, narrated by the people who knew them best. Or, in some cases, were them.
Dates October 10, 11, 17, 18, 2025
Ticket update All performances are currently sold out. Refunded seats, when available, are released first-come, first-served.
Why this tour hits different
• Story first. Each stop introduces a new angle on ambition and consequence. Card tables, campaign trails, “cures” for what ails you.
• Setting second to none. The cemetery’s Victorian statuary and shade trees turn every anecdote into a scene.
• Smart humor. The script has bite, but it respects the history and the people who lived it.
Make the most of it
• Costumes are not required, but a vintage scarf or a pocket watch in a photo never hurts.
• Bring patience and curiosity. The best moments are often the small ones, like the way a name on a stone suddenly becomes a person with a plot twist.
• Plan a post-tour debrief. A cocoa stop or nightcap nearby is perfect for comparing favorite lines and biggest gasps.
If you love this, try Daytime cemetery walks, local museum programs about Gold Rush Sacramento, and fall ghost-history offerings around the waterfront. There is a full season of spirited storytelling in October.